Stephen Colbert publicly accused CBS of barring an interview with Texas state Rep. James Talarico, who is running for U.S. Senate, from "The Late Show." Colbert revealed that the network's legal team had directly instructed his staff "in no uncertain terms" that the interview could not be broadcast. This decision, he stated, was a preemptive bow to FCC pressure over the agency’s push to apply its “equal time” rule to late-night talk shows. He was also explicitly instructed not to raise the matter on air, an instruction he defied on his broadcast.

Colbert explained the FCC’s “equal time” rule, which requires broadcast networks to provide opposing political candidates equivalent airtime. He highlighted that talk shows had long benefited from an exception for news and talk show interviews with politicians, an exception he deemed "crucial." He reserved particular scorn for FCC chair Brendan Carr, describing him as a “smug bowling pin,” over a January 21 letter. In this letter, Carr suggested the exemption should no longer apply to programs he characterized as being “motivated by partisan purposes.” Colbert directly challenged Carr, accusing him of partisan motives and noting a "glaring inconsistency" in Carr's approach, specifically that right-wing talk radio would not be subject to the same equal time notice.

Crucially, Colbert pointed out that Carr had not yet formally eliminated the exemption, making CBS’s decision to enforce it a unilateral one. As the studio audience booed, Colbert offered a sardonic explanation for the network’s posture, stating the decision was made “for purely financial reasons,” a wry echo of the rationale CBS cited when it canceled "The Late Show." He placed the FCC’s moves within a broader pattern of political pressure, asserting that Donald Trump’s administration aimed to silence anyone critical of Trump on TV, likening Trump to a "toddler with too much screen time." He noted that he and Jimmy Kimmel were two of the people most affected by this threat, with Kimmel also publicly pushing back against the proposed rule change.

Responding to Carr’s suggestion that hosts unwilling to comply could migrate to “a cable channel or podcast or a streaming service,” Colbert was withering in his criticism. Despite CBS's ban, Colbert announced he would still conduct the Talarico interview, but it would air on "The Late Show" YouTube channel after the broadcast. He also revealed that the network would not permit him to share a URL or QR code directing viewers there. The restrictions extended further, prohibiting him from showing any image of Talarico—including photographs or drawings—under FCC rules forbidding any candidate appearance “by voice or picture.” In a humorous act of defiance, he displayed a stock photo found by Googling “not James Talarico,” and then held up a drawing he claimed, for legal reasons, he could not confirm was or was not a likeness of the candidate, which turned out to resemble Snoopy.

On a subsequent Monday night broadcast, Colbert criticized CBS for releasing a statement that denied it pulled his interview with Rep. James Talarico, a move he says was done without his knowledge. He presented the network's statement, describing it as a "surprisingly small piece of paper considering how many butts it’s trying to cover." Colbert read the CBS statement in full, which claimed that "The Late Show" was not prohibited from broadcasting the interview but was provided "legal guidance" that it could trigger the FCC equal-time rule for two other candidates, including Rep. Jasmine Crockett. The statement asserted that options for fulfilling the equal time were presented, and "The Late Show" decided to present the interview through its YouTube channel with on-air promotion rather than potentially providing the equal-time options.

Colbert joked that the statement read like it was “written by and, I’m guessing, for lawyers.” He sarcastically offered to return the favor of legal guidance, stating he was well aware of his ability to book other guests, having hosted Jasmine Crockett twice. He humorously noted he couldn't show her picture without including her opponents, then displayed a picture of Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein instead. Colbert clarified that "every word" of Sunday night's script was approved by CBS’s lawyers before the Talarico interview was "abruptly shut down." He also claimed he received even more notes from the legal team during a commercial break about how he could and couldn't talk about the pulled interview, an unprecedented event in the show's 11 seasons.

Colbert concluded by stating he was "not even mad" and did not want an "adversarial relationship with the network." He expressed gratitude for his 11 years at CBS and working with his colleagues, but voiced surprise that this "giant global corporation would not stand up to these bullies," reiterating his belief that the Trump administration sought to silence its critics on television, affecting hosts like himself and Jimmy Kimmel.