While Stephen Colbert is free to speak his mind, he’s reportedly causing drama behind the scenes at CBS.
After the late-night talk show host, 61, said his interview with Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico was pulled from the Monday, February 16, broadcast of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, CBS denied that they blocked his interview.
The following night on air, Colbert addressed the CBS statement — which he said he was not told about — and called it “crap,” then crumbled it up in a doggie waste bag and threw it away in front of his live audience.
“He humiliated them. Again,” a network source told journalist Rob Shuter for a Wednesday, February 18, post on his Naughty But Nice Substack, which reported that The Late Showmay not make it all the way to its May 21 end date.
While no official changes to the end of Colbert’s show have been announced, the source told Shuter, “There are new bosses in place, and they are furious.”
Colbert said on Monday’s show that he was told his segment with Talarico could not air over concerns about the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) “equal time” rule, which requires equal time be given to opposing political candidates. However, the rule has always excluded talk shows.
Scott Kowalchyk/CBS
According to one of Shuter’s sources, people at the network “feel like they can’t trust” Colbert, adding: “As the clock winds down, he has less to lose — and that makes executives nervous.”
“He’s unleashed,” another source said of Colbert. “And that’s exactly what scares them.”
Some staff at the network, however, “are secretly applauding,” an employee claimed. “They think he’s saying what others are too afraid to.”
On Tuesday night’s show, Colbert said CBS’ decision to not have Talarico on air — but instead put the segment on YouTube, where it now has millions of views — is the network’s “right,” adding: “Just like I have the right to talk about their decision on air.”
“I am well aware that we can book other guests,” Colbert said of the CBS statement, claiming that he was presented with “options for how the equal time for other candidates could be fulfilled.”
“I didn’t need to be presented with that ‘option,’” he said. “I’ve had [Texas Democratic Rep.] Jasmine Crockett on my show twice. I could prove that to you, but the network won’t let me show you her picture without including her opponents. So, I’ll just have to show you this picture of [President] Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein instead.”