‘Trying to control what we watch’: Talarico on blocked Stephen Colbert interview
Texas Senate candidate James Talarico was barred from appearing on “The Late Night Show with Stephen Colbert,” the talk-show host said during Monday’s episode.
Talarico, an Austin area state representative, is one of the leading candidates in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. Colbert, whose show airs on CBS, said he was told by network lawyers that Talarico couldn’t appear on the show. CBS’s parent network is Paramount.
Talarico is facing U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a Dallas Democrat, in the March 3 primary election. Early voting began Tuesday.
“You know who is not one of my guests tonight?” Colbert said. “That is Texas State Representative James Talarico. He was supposed to be here, but 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.”
Colbert said he was also told that he couldn’t mention Talarico not being allowed on the show.
“Because my network clearly doesn’t want us to talk about this, let’s talk about this,” Colbert said to cheers and laughs.
Colbert said he’d air an interview with Talarico on the show’s YouTube channel.
Colbert referenced a Jan. 21 letter from FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, in which the chairman said political candidates should get equal air time on daytime and late-night talk shows. Colbert points out that there’s long been an exception to the equal time rule for news interviews and talk show interviews with politicians.
“Let’s just call this what it is,” Colbert said. “Donald Trump’s administration wants to silence anyone who says anything bad about Trump on TV, because all Trump does is watch TV.”
The FCC did not immediately return a request for comment.
CBS denied blocking the interview with Talarico, in a Tuesday statement that was widely reported.
“The show was provided legal guidance that the broadcast could trigger the FCC equal-time rule for two other candidates, including Rep. Jasmine Crockett, and presented options for how the equal time for other candidates could be fulfilled,” a CBS spokesperson said, according to the Los Angeles Times. “‘The Late Show’ decided to present the interview through its YouTube channel with on-air promotion on the broadcast rather than potentially providing the equal-time options.”
The FCC is reportedly investigating “The View” after Talarico appeared on the show earlier this year.
“I think Donald Trump is worried we’re about to flip Texas,” Talarico said in a Tuesday statement. “This is the party that ran against cancel culture. Now they’re trying to control what we watch, what we say, and what we read. This is the most dangerous kind of cancel culture, the kind that comes from the top. A threat to one of our First Amendment rights is a threat to all of our First Amendment rights.”
This story was originally published February 17, 2026 at 1:47 PM.
