Stephen Colbert went to war with CBS on Monday night, revealing on air that the network’s lawyers directly called his show to block an interview with Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico—and then told him he couldn’t even mention the censorship.
“Then I was told, in some uncertain terms that, not only could I not have him on, I could not mention me not having him on,” Colbert said as his audience booed. “And because my network clearly doesn’t want us to talk about this, let’s talk about this.”
The whole mess stems from FCC Chair Brendan Carr’s threat to enforce “equal time” regulations on TV talk shows, which have been exempt for decades. If implemented, networks would have to give airtime to every candidate in a race if they interview any one of them—a move that would effectively end political interviews on late night television.
Notably, Carr’s proposal doesn’t apply to right-wing talk radio, which the FCC also regulates.
“Let’s just call this what it is: Donald Trump’s administration wants to silence anyone who says anything bad about Trump on TV because all Trump does is watch TV,” Colbert said. “He’s like a toddler with too much screen time. He gets cranky and then drops a load in his diapers.”
But Colbert saved his sharpest jabs for his own network. He pointed out that Carr has only released a letter saying he’s considering eliminating the exemption—he hasn’t actually done it yet. CBS is preemptively caving.
“My network is unilaterally enforcing it as if he had,” Colbert said. “But I want to assure you, this decision is for purely financial reasons.”
That “purely financial” line was a deliberate callback to CBS’s explanation for canceling “The Late Show” last summer—a cancellation that came suspiciously as parent company Paramount was seeking FCC approval for a merger. That approval came one week after Colbert’s show got the axe.
He also released the full interview on YouTube.
This is the interview Donald Trump didn’t want you to see.
— James Talarico (@jamestalarico) February 17, 2026
His FCC refused to air my interview with Stephen Colbert.
Trump is worried we’re about to flip Texas. pic.twitter.com/BCev5jZbKc
Trump, of course, has been demanding Colbert’s removal for years.
Colbert did interview Talarico anyway—posting the conversation to YouTube. He told viewers CBS wouldn’t let him mention the URL or show a QR code linking to it.
His final show is set for May 21.