Stephen Colbert Takes on CBS: The Inside Story of the Pulled Interview with Rep. James Talarico

Stephen Colbert Takes on CBS: The Inside Story of the Pulled Interview with Rep. James Talarico

Stephen Colbert criticized CBS for releasing a statement denying that they pulled his interview with Rep. James Talarico from Sunday night's broadcast without his knowledge. Colbert read the statement to his audience and joked about its legalistic language. He mentioned that CBS' legal team seemed to be giving him advice on how to do his job, even though he had already booked Rep. Jasmine Crockett on his show twice before.

Colbert revealed that CBS lawyers had called his staff and instructed them not to air the interview with Rep. Talarico due to the FCC's equal-time rule. He pointed out that there has been an exception to this rule for talk shows like "The Late Show," but CBS was enforcing it as if the exception had been eliminated. Colbert humorously suggested that the decision to cancel the interview was made for financial reasons and criticized the Trump administration for trying to silence critics on TV.

In conclusion, Colbert expressed his surprise at CBS not standing up to what he called "bullies" and emphasized that he did not want an adversarial relationship with the network. He mentioned his gratitude for working at CBS for 11 years and working with various individuals at the network. Colbert also highlighted the unusual situation of receiving extensive notes from the legal team about the pulled interview, something that had never happened in the show's 11 seasons.