NEWNow you can listen to Fox News articles!
When it comes down to it, Stephen Colbert’s job is to laugh.
And, day and night, find new ways to criticize Donald Trump.
Now he’s at war with his network over an interview he was told not to run.
The spectacle of the No. 1 late-night host criticizing his corporate bosses is, well, very entertaining, but it also raises important issues about free speech and government pressure.
CBS DENIES IT BLOCKED COLBERT FROM AIRING THE TALARICO INTERVIEW AFTER PLAINTIFFS SAY THEY ARE NOT SURPRISED.
Late night hosts Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel have both found themselves at the center of heated debates. (Getty Images)
Anyway, what is CBS going to do, fire him? The new owners, Skydance billionaires who bought Paramount, had already decided to end “The Late Show” in May. So that, in a sense, freed the network’s biggest star.
The backstory is that the FCC has been making noises about eliminating the exemption of late night and daytime talk shows from the equal time rule.
Under the plan floated by Chairman Brendan Carr, who was appointed by President Trump, these shows, when interviewing a candidate, would be required to give equal time to opponents.
CBS’ COLBERT FUMES SAYS HE WAS BLOCKED FROM INTERVIEW WITH TEXAS DEM AMID FCC CRACKDOWN
But when Colbert recorded a very sympathetic sit-in with James Talarico, a Democratic representative from Texas now running for Senate, the FCC didn’t have to lift a finger. CBS has taken up the matter. The network’s lawyers even called Colbert to consult while he was taping Monday’s show.
Colbert told viewers that the lawyers told him not to broadcast the interview. This was a political gift, by the way, to Talarico, who is now running around charging for the meeting as an interview Trump doesn’t want you to see. He raised $2.5 million in the next 24 hours. He is running against another Democrat, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, in the primaries.
Carr’s argument is that shows like “Late Show,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and “The View” shouldn’t be treated like news shows, with their automatic release on equal time, if overly biased.
Colbert found himself at war with CBS for an interview with James Talarico, a Democrat running for the seat currently held by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. (Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty Images)
The problem for conservatives, who are understandably tired of all the Trump-bashing, is that the Democratic administration can use the floor to end programs on the right.
Colbert told the audience that he had been instructed not to talk about the canceled interview – which he continued to do.
On Tuesday, CBS responded with a statement saying no no no, we never ordered our man Stephen to kill the interview, we just advised him about legal options involving the equal time law. Colbert couldn’t let it go, announcing Tuesday evening that each script was pre-approved by official beagles.
“Without talking to me, the company released this press release, this statement,” Colbert said, pointing to the audience. “This is an incredibly small paper considering how many buttocks it is trying to cover.
“They know very well that every word of my script last night was approved by CBS lawyers, who, for the record, approve all scripts that go on the air.”
It’s really surprising that the lawyers released this thing without talking to me, I don’t even know what to do with this sloppiness,” he said before throwing it into a bag to throw away like a fish with a church.
Colbert wasn’t finished: “I’m very surprised that this big global company wouldn’t stand up to these bullies.”
For what it’s worth, you can watch the interview now posted on YouTube, which is beyond the FCC’s jurisdiction. It has been viewed more than 5 million times, drawing far more attention than it would have had the segment aired on CBS as scheduled.
Meanwhile, Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns CNN and other cable outlets, agreed to resume talks with Skydance/CBS — which Trump would have liked — after striking a deal to sell them to Netflix. The perceived threat of an antitrust probe if Skydance gets the nod casts a shadow over the process.
Carr, meanwhile, spoke to reporters in the paper yesterday, calling it a hoax that his agency was involved in the CBS decision. He described it as “a comprehensive document on why Americans trust gas station sushi more than they trust the national media.”
In addition, the chairman said, “I think you guys should feel ashamed that you were lied to and just ran with that lie. I think it was an embarrassing episode for the media.”
JIMMY KIMMEL TO MEET LOS ANGELES HOUSE DEMOCRATIC CALL: REPORT
Whatever Carr’s influence or lack thereof, he played a role in last year’s decision by Disney, ABC’s parent company, to pull Jimmy Kimmel off the air.
Kimmel made a mistake, after Charlie Kirk was killed, by mistakenly saying that the killer was part of the MAGA organization. Carr said this was biased reporting and raised questions about the ABC’s broadcasting licence.
This made it appear, rightly or wrongly, that Disney was bowing to government pressure.
The move, as you will recall, turned out to be a big mistake. The backlash was so great that Kimmel was put back on the air a week later.
But now Kimmel has crossed another line.
Kimmel, meanwhile, will be hosting a fundraiser for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee next month. (Michael Le Brecht/Disney via Getty Images)
He’s hosting an LA fundraiser next month for the Democratic DRM Campaign Committee.
Tickets for the event, which will feature Hakeem Jeffries and Nancy Pelosi, will cost at least $25,000. For those willing to pay more, tickets range from $44,000 for the “Leader’s Circle” to $310,100 for the “Jeffries 300,” according to the invitation.
Since I was a little involved in interviewing Trump about his feud with Jimmy, which fueled their conversation, I don’t think ABC should allow this. Anyone who watches Kimmel’s show for five minutes knows that he is against Trump.
But helping one political party to raise huge sums of money must be true. It eliminates any defense against over-sharing.
SUBSCRIBE TO HOWIE’S MEDIA BUZZMETER PODCAST, A RIFF ON THE HOTTEST NEWS OF THE DAY
Fifteen years ago, MSNBC suspended popular host Keith Olbermann without pay after he admitted to donating more than $2,400 to three Democratic candidates, one of whom was a guest on his show.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS PROGRAM
But times have obviously changed, with zero more involved, the ABC really needs to address this. And so, by the way, should Jimmy Kimmel.
