Stephen Colbert has trashed his own network amid an escalating dispute over whether it censored him—using a photo of Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump to make his point.
The late-night comedian launched a lengthy attack on CBS bosses on his show Tuesday, a day after running an interview with a rising Democratic star on YouTube because, he said, he had been told not to run it on television.
Colbert told viewers of the segment with Texas senate hopeful James Talarico that network lawyers had told him to pull the segment from the broadcast because of federal “equal time” rules, allowing all candidates for a race to demand they get to appear to.
The network then made an unprecedented public statement effectively calling him a liar earlier Tuesday.
On his show Tuesday night, Colbert, who is counting down to his final episode in May after being canceled while the network was taken over by the MAGA-allied nepobaby David Ellison, lashed back.
He claimed he’d been “ready to let the whole thing go” until he saw CBS’s statement, which he said the company published “without ever talking to me.”
Colbert held a copy of the statement in his hand, noting, “This is a surprisingly small piece of paper considering how many butts it’s trying to cover.”
“Now, I’m not a lawyer, and I don’t want to tell them how to do their jobs,” Colbert said, “But since they seem intent on telling me how to do mine, here we go.”
Colbert told the CBS lawyers, “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.”
He added, “I could prove that to you, but the network won’t let me show you her picture without including her opponents. So I’ll have to show you this picture of Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein instead.”
Colbert has long trashed Trump for his apparent connections to convicted sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. After the latest round of Epstein emails that were released in January, Trump was criticized even by fellow Republicans for being mentioned in the files over a million times.
The segment came after Colbert revealed in his Monday night episode that CBS’ network lawyers had warned him he couldn’t feature his planned interview with Talarico on his show.
“Not only could I not have him on, I could not mention not having him on,” Colbert told viewers on Monday. “And because my network clearly doesn’t want us to talk about this, let’s talk about this.”
On Tuesday afternoon, CBS released a statement denying Colbert’s version of events:
“The Late Show was not prohibited by CBS from broadcasting the interview with Rep. James Talarico,” the network wrote. “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 network added, “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.”
Colbert said of CBS Tuesday night, “They know damn well that every word of my script last night was approved by CBS’s lawyers, who, for the record, approve every script that goes on the air.”
He explained further, “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,” Colbert said. “So I don’t know what this is about.”
Colbert clarified that he didn’t enjoy criticizing his parent company.
“I am grateful to have worked for CBS for the last 11 years,” Colbert said, but soon added, “I’m just so surprised that this giant global corporation would not stand up to these bullies.”
Looking at the printed-out CBS statement again, Colbert said, “I don’t even know what to do with this c--p. Hold on...”
He went and grabbed a dog waste bag and, garnering mass audience applause, carefully stuffed the paper inside it.
Colbert’s 15-minute interview with Talarico has since received over 3.8 million views on the show’s YouTube page, which is significantly higher than a typical video from the channel. The interview has also gone viral on social media sites like X and TikTok.
On every platform, countless commenters have noted that they felt more motivated to watch the clip knowing that CBS and the FCC didn’t want it to air.
The controversy around the interview also led to a major spike in Google searches for Talarico, who had been struggling to gain name recognition in a tight, heated primary.
Talarico himself addressed this on X, retweeting a post that read, “Try to censor @JamesTalarico at your own risk.”
Talarico, who could potentially help flip the U.S. Senate if he wins his primary against fellow Democrat Jasmine Crockett, has characterized the apparent censorship of his Colbert interview as a sign that Republicans see him as a genuine threat:
“This is the interview Donald Trump didn’t want you to see,” Talarico wrote, in a post that has since received over 139,000 likes.
He added, “Trump is worried we’re about to flip Texas.”
Colbert’s calling-out of CBS comes over seven months after the network canceled his show. Colbert’s final episode will air in May 2026.
The move from CBS was apparently due to the Federal Communications Commission’s announcement in January that it could enforce the “equal time” rule for late-night TV shows like Colbert’s.
The FCC’s issue was shared on X last month by Trump-appointed FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, who wrote, “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 FCC quickly put its new regulatory guidance to the test against ABC’s The View, launching an investigation into the show after they featured Talarico as a guest in early February.
