Colbert takes CBS to task, again

Late Show host Stephen Colbert once again gave his audience the inside scoop on Tuesday amid the ongoing clash involving him, network executives, and a candidate for US Senate in Texas. 

The latest comes as CBS refuted Colbert’s assertion that he had been instructed not to interview Texas State Representative James Talarico and that he had been dissuaded from bringing up the situation on air.

“There’s another big story today,” Colbert said on Tuesday, as a newsy photo popped up of himself. “And it’s me.” 

“I was ready to let the whole thing go,” he continued, “until a few hours ago when my groupchat blowed up. Because, without ever talking to me, the corporation put out this press release.”

Colbert read a paper copy of the statement, which challenged the claim that he had been prohibited from interviewing Talarico. “A small piece of paper considering how many butts it’s trying to cover,” Colbert quipped. CBS’ lawyers, he continued, “know damn well that every word of my script last night was approved by CBS’ lawyers, who for the record approve every script that goes on the air.”

For those just tuning in: On Monday, Colbert said that CBS’s lawyers had instructed the host “in no uncertain terms…that we could not” have Talarico as the show’s scheduled guest. According to these lawyers, Talarico’s appearance would run afoul of equal time guidelines brought about by Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr. A January letter by Carr challenged long-held rules about what kind of broadcasts have to provide equal opportunity for time to political candidates in an election. Previously, talk shows and late-night hosts were excused. Carr, a key ally of President Donald Trump, laid out how he’d like to remove those exceptions. 

According to Colbert, that meant CBS telling him not to interview Texas State Representative James Talarico, a rising Democratic name who is running to flip a US Senate seat blue. “We were told in no uncertain terms by our network’s lawyers, who called us directly, that we could not have him on the broadcast,” the host said Monday. 

Colbert still interviewed the Senate hopeful, but instead of doing it on air, The Late Show team posted the chat on YouTube, as streaming services do not fall under this FCC guideline. That video has since garnered over 5,421,000 views as of publication.  

This whole incident comes as Colbert only has a few months left on the show after being ousted by Paramount, CBS’s parent company.

“I’m just so surprised that this giant, global corporation would not stand up to these bullies. Come on, you’re paramount!” Colbert said on Tuesday, before joking, “No. No! You’re more than that. You’re Paramount +.” 

And that the lawyers would send out this statement, without discussing with Colbert first, was “really surprising.” 

“I don’t even know what to do with this crap,” he said, holding the printed out release at the end of the segment. “Oh, hold on,” Colbert continued, pulling out a dog poop bag, crumbling and picking up the paper, and discarding it to the side.