Once again, CBS and Stephen Colbert are at odds. The Late Show host pushed back against his network bosses over a controversial interview with Texas State Representative James Talarico. And while the two sides can't seem to agree on what happened, Colbert added a surprising caveat to his protest.
It all started during the February 16 show. Colbert announced that CBS would not allow him to air an interview with Talarico, a candidate for the U.S. Senate, due to concerns regarding the FCC's guidelines on equal time for political candidates.
As if that wasn't enough, the network also told Colbert he couldn't even mention Talarico getting dropped from the show. The late-night host defied those instructions, telling his audience that CBS "clearly doesn’t want us to talk about this" before accusing FCC head Brendan Carr of installing politically-motivated rules designed to protect President Donald Trump from criticism on television.
Colbert chose to release the interview via the Late Show's official YouTube channel. In response, CBS released a statement:
“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. 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."
But rather than tamp down the controversy, the statement only fanned the flames. Colbert hit back against CBS during his monologue on February 18, saying in part that CBS "know damn well that every word of my script last night was approved by CBS lawyers,” he said. “For the lawyers to release this without even talking to me is really surprising. I don’t even know what to do with this crap.”
Stephen Colbert gives a surprising statement about his relationship with CBS
It was no surprise to hear Stephen Colbert push back against the attempts by CBS to control the narrative. Ever since the network announced plans to end The Late Show, and effectively fire Colbert, in May, the comedian hasn't pulled any punches.
But in response to the Talarico issue, Colbert wanted it known that he's not mad. In fact, the last thing he wants is a public feud with his network bosses at CBS. “I really don’t want an adversarial relationship with the network. I’ve never had one,” he said.
So it appears as if Colbert will play nice for the next few months. “We obeyed our network and put the interview on YouTube, where it’s gotten millions of views," he said. "I wish we could have put it on the show, where no one would have watched it,” Colbert added with a layer of self-deprecation.
Colbert has every reason to go scorched earth on CBS and Paramount as he nears his late-night TV exit. However, the statement from Tuesday night suggests that the comedian wants to go out on a high-note. Or perhaps he just doesn't want to give CBS a reason to pull the plug any earlier than May.