Stephen Colbert calls out CBS for blocking interview with Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico

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Late night comedian Stephen Colbert called out his network, CBS, saying it blocked him from broadcasting an interview with a Democratic U.S.Senate candidate over the Trump administration’s controversial enforcement of its equal-time rules.

During Stephen Colbert’s Monday night monologue on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” Colbert carried on per usual, introducing the Late Show Band and his guest Jennifer Garner.He then posed the question, “You know who is not one of my guests tonight?”The late-night host was meant to have Texas state Rep.

James Talarico on the show.But he said on air that he was “told in no uncertain terms by our network’s lawyers, who called us directly, that we could not have him on the broadcast.”He continued on to explain the FCC’s proposed new guidance for equal-time rules under its chairman, Brendan Carr.

The rules require broadcasters who feature political candidates to provide the same time to their rivals, if requested.Typically, news content on daytime and late-night talk shows has been excluded from these regulations, as it has been an informal tradition for presidential candidates to make their rounds on various late-night shows.

But the FCC under Carr — who has made no secret of his intention to carry out an agenda that is aligned with President Trump’s wishes — has questioned whether late-night and daytime talk shows deserve an exemption from the equal-time rules for broadcast stations using the public airwaves.Many legal and media experts have said a stricter application of the rule would be hard to enforce and could stifle free speech.“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 Monday night.Hollywood Inc.

FCC is taking a dim view of whether daytime and late-night shows...