Colbert Doesn’t Give an FCC About Calling Out CBS

State Rep. James Talarico (D-TX) did not appear as scheduled on “The Late Show” on February 16, and Stephen Colbert addressed his absence in a segment he was strongly advised against. “He was supposed to be here, but we were told in no uncertain terms by our network’s lawyers, who called us directly, that we could not have him on the broadcast,” he said. “You might have heard of this thing called the ‘equal time rule,’ OK? It’s an old FCC rule that applies only to radio and broadcast television—not cable or streaming—that says if a show has a candidate on during an election, they have to have all that candidate’s opponents on as well. It’s the FCC’s most time-honored rule, right after ‘No nipples at the Super Bowl.’”