Colbert says CBS barred interview

The network cited FCC equal-time rules to keep a Democrat off his show, he says.

- BY CERYS DAVIES

SARA DIGGINS Austin American-Statesman TEXAS Rep. James Talarico, running for U.S. Senate, was nixed from "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert."

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 his 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 to explain the FCC’s 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.