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CBS “The Late Show” host Stephen Colbert said Thursday that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is trying to “silence” him and fellow liberal late-night hosts Jimmy Kimmel and Seth Meyers following the agency’s new guidance on political guest appearances.
Colbert opened a “Late Show” segment on the FCC by telling his audience he had to watch what he said about President Donald Trump because “‘Johnny Law’ is once again coming after yours truly.”
Referencing a report from The New York Times, Colbert said, “The FCC is announcing plans to enforce long-dormant rules on appearances by political candidates on network talk shows. Oh, no. They’ve awakened the long-dormant rules, not seen since the mind-bending horrors of the pre-Euclidean variety show Cthulhu Tonight.”
Colbert claimed that the FCC’s new guidance is “clearly an attempt to silence me, Jimmy and Seth,” before looking into the camera and directly addressing the agency.
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“Hey, I’m flattered you think that appearing on my show has the power to affect politics in any way, OK? I’ve been doing this job for 21 years, and let me tell you something, buddy. If our government had turned out the way I had chosen, you would not have the power to make this announcement,” he railed.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the FCC for comment.
The FCC announced Wednesday it is providing guidance to broadcast networks to adhere to the “statutory equal opportunities requirement,” citing the Communications Act of 1934, “including their airing of late night and daytime talk shows.”
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“Under section 315, if a broadcast station permits any legally qualified candidate for public office to use its facilities, it shall provide an equal opportunity to all other legally qualified candidates for that office,” the FCC wrote in a press release.
There has been a longstanding “bona fide” exception for news programming that wouldn’t require equal time for an opposing candidate, but the FCC now says it “has not been presented with any evidence that the interview portion of any late night or daytime television talk show program on the air presently would qualify for the ‘bona fide’ news exemption.”
FCC Chair Brendan Carr wrote on X, “For years, legacy TV networks assumed that their late night & daytime talk shows qualify as ‘bona fide news’ programs – even when motivated by purely partisan political purposes. Today, the FCC reminded them of their obligation to provide all candidates with equal opportunities.”
The move will likely rattle ABC’s daytime talk show “The View” as well as its late-night show “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” NBC’s “Late Night with Seth Meyers” and CBS’ “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” which has been canceled but will remain on the air until May. When the shows have political guests, they are overwhelmingly likely to be Democrats or liberal-leaning.
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Kimmel also addressed the FCC’s new guidance on his show, telling his audience on Wednesday that he might need their help again.
“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” was briefly suspended in September over remarks the late-night host made about the suspected killer of Charlie Kirk.
“The president took time, from 6,000 miles away, to continue his war on talk shows. He shared this story about how his minions at the FCC are planning to make it difficult for shows like ours and ‘The View’ to interview politicians they don’t align with,” Kimmel said. “For real.”
“We are once again getting threatened by the FCC. I might need your help again,” Kimmel told his audience.
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Fox News Digital’s Joseph A. Wulfsohn and Hanna Panreck contributed to this report.
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