Stephen Colbert called out CBS after they denied stopping him from airing his interview with James Talarico on “The Late Show,” vehemently noting that he “obeyed” the network.
The comedian addressed the tension with CBS during Tuesday’s episode for “The Late Show,” where he called the statement from the network “crap” and maintained he followed direct orders.
“I was ready to let the whole thing go until a few hours ago when my group chat blowed up because, without ever talking to me, the corporation put out this press release, this statement,” Colbert said. “Now, this is a surprisingly small piece of paper considering how many butts it’s trying to cover.”
After Colbert finished reading the statement from CBS to his studio audience, the late night host said the press release was “clearly” written by lawyers.
“I’m not a lawyer, and I don’t want to tell them how to do their jobs, but since they seem intent on telling me how to do mine, here we go,” he continued. “Fellas, I am well aware that we can book other guests. I didn’t need to be presented with that option. I’ve had Jasmine Crockett on my show twice.”
Per Colbert, they “obeyed [the] network and put the interview on YouTube,” adding that CBS signs off on all of his scripts.
“They know damn well that every word of my script last night was approved by CBS’ lawyers,” Colbert said, “who, for the record, approve every script that goes on the air, whether it’s about equal time or this image of frogs having sex.”
He added: “In fact, between the monologue I did last night and before I did the second act talking about this issue, I had to go backstage. I got called backstage to get more notes from these lawyers, something that had never ever happened before. And they told us the language they wanted me to use to describe that equal time exception — and I used that language. So, I don’t know what this is about.”
Colbert clarified that he wasn’t mad at CBS, defending that he didn’t “want an adversarial relationship with the network,” especially since he’s never had one prior to this situation.
“I’m just so surprised that this giant global corporation would not stand up to these bullies,” he concluded. “Come on, you’re Paramount. No, no. You’re more than that. You’re Paramount Plus. Plus what? I guess we’re all going to find out pretty soon.”
Colbert then noted, “I don’t even know what to do with this crap,” before picking up the written statement with a poop bag. Watch his full commentary above.
Colbert’s defense came hours after CBS issued a statement regarding the allegedly pulled Talarico interview. “’The Late Show’ was not prohibited by CBS from broadcasting the interview with Rep. James Talarico,” the network noted in their statement. “The show was provided legal guidance that the broadcast could trigger the FCC equal-time rule for two other candidates, including Rep. Jasmine Crockett, and presented options for how the equal time for other candidates could be fulfilled. ‘The Late Show’ decided to present the interview through its YouTube channel with on-air promotion on the broadcast rather than potentially providing the equal-time options.”
The “Late Show” host painted a very different picture, however, telling his broadcast audience on Monday, “[Talarico] 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 added at the time: “Then I was told in some uncertain terms that, not only could I not have him on, I could not mention me not having him on.”
Talarico, who is running for a U.S. senate seat, addressed the “Late Show” controversy on MS NOW Tuesday evening, saying the situation is certainly “troubling” as it can be viewed as an attack on the First Amendment.
