Stephen Colbert Responds to CBS Dispute Over Interview

(AP) – Stephen Colbert is not shying away from a very public disagreement with his CBS bosses regarding what he can air on his late-night show. On “The Late Show” Tuesday night, Colbert expressed surprise at CBS’ statement asserting that his lawyer suggested he couldn’t broadcast an interview with Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico, which he claimed took place the evening before.

In a bold move, he took the network’s statement, wrapped it in a dog waste bag, and tossed it aside.

Colbert instead decided to air Talarico’s interview on YouTube, explaining to his audience the reasons it couldn’t be shown on CBS. The network raised concerns that FCC Chairman Brendan Carr might invoke enforcement powers. There’s a law that insists broadcasters offer “equal time” to all candidates if they air an interview with one of them, which was apparently at the core of the network’s apprehensions.

He remarked, “In our research, we couldn’t find a single instance of this rule being applied to talk show interviews, not just in my entire late-night career, but in anyone’s late-night career dating back to the 1960s.”

In January, Carr mentioned he was considering an exemption for late-night talk shows, but hadn’t implemented it yet. Colbert commented, “But CBS was generous enough to do that for him.”

On Monday night, CBS contended that not only were they aware Colbert was going to address the topic publicly, but that his lawyer had approved the script. This made Colbert wonder about the statement claiming he received “legal guidance” suggesting the equal time rule applied to the interview.

“I don’t know what this is about,” he admitted. “Just to be clear, I’m not angry. I don’t really want an adversarial relationship with the network. I’ve never had an adversarial relationship.”

“I’m very surprised that this huge global company doesn’t stand up to these bullies,” he added, referring to CBS, which is owned by Paramount Global.

Colbert is currently in the final stretch of his time at CBS, especially since the network announced last summer that President Donald Trump was often the target of Colbert’s sharp jokes. The show is set to end in May for what CBS claims are financial reasons; however, several individuals, including Colbert, have voiced skepticism that Trump’s repeated criticisms were unrelated.

This latest controversy draws parallels to last fall, when ABC suspended late-night host Jimmy Kimmel following his remarks about the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, after facing pushback from viewers.

As of Wednesday morning, Colbert’s YouTube interview with Talarico had garnered over 5 million views, nearly twice the average nightly viewership of his CBS show.