Colbert slams CBS for canning interview, Kimmel hosts Dem fundraiser

When you come straight to it, Stephen Colbert The mission is to get a laugh.

And night after night, find new ways to pounce Donald Trump.

He is now at war with his own network over an interview he was ordered not to do.

The spectacle of the No. 1 late-night host criticizing his company’s bosses is highly entertaining, but it also raises important issues about free speech and government pressure.

CBS denies it blocked Colbert from airing an interview with Talrico after the network’s lawyers sued the host.

Late night hosts Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel have both found themselves at the center of overtly partisan debates. (Getty Images)

Anyway, what will CBS do, fire him? The new owners, the Skydance billionaires who bought Paramount, had already decided to end “The Late Show” in May. This, to some extent, freed up the network’s biggest star.

The backstory is that the FCC has been making a fuss about ending the exemption of late-night and daytime talk shows from the equal time rule.

Under a plan put forward by President Trump appointee Brendan Carr, these programs would be required, if they interview a candidate, to give opponents an equal amount of time.

Colbert fumed at CBS, saying it blocked him from giving an interview with the Texas Dem amid the FCC crackdown

But when Colbert scored a largely sympathetic session with James Tallarico, the Democratic state representative In Texas Now the FCC is running for the Senate, she doesn’t have to lift a finger. CBS took care of it. The network’s lawyers even called Colbert in for a consultation while he taped Monday’s show.

Colbert told viewers that these lawyers directly ordered him not to broadcast the interview. This was a political gift, by the way, for Tallarico, who is now going around describing the encounter as the one Trump doesn’t want you to see. He raised $2.5 million in the next 24 hours. He’s running against another Democrat, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, in the primary.

Carr’s argument is that shows like “Late Show,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and “The View” don’t deserve to be treated like news programs, with automatic exemptions from equal time, if they are overly partisan.

Colbert found himself at war with CBS over an interview with James Tallarico, a Democrat running for the seat currently held by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. (Scott Kowalczyk/CBS via Getty Images)

The problem for conservatives, who are understandably tired of all the Trump criticism, is that A.J Democratic administration The precedent could be used to crack down on programming from the right.

Colbert told the audience that he had been ordered not to talk about the canceled interview — and proceeded to do just that.

On Tuesday, CBS responded with a statement, saying: No no no, we never ordered our man Stephen to end the interview, we only advised him of legal options that included the equal time rule. Colbert didn’t let the matter drop, announcing Tuesday evening that each script had been pre-approved by the legal beagles.

“Without speaking to me at all, the company issued this press release, this statement,” Colbert said as he held the document up to the audience. “This is a surprisingly small piece of paper considering how many butts it’s trying to cover.

“They know full well that every word of my script last night was approved by CBS lawyers, who, for the record, have approved every script that goes on the air.”

“For the lawyers to release this without talking to me is really surprising. I don’t even know what to do with this crap,” he said, before throwing it in a bag to dispose of like a week-old fish.

And Colbert wasn’t finished: “I’m very surprised that this global giant won’t stand up to these bullies.”

For what it’s worth, you can watch the interview now posted on YouTube, which is beyond the reach of the FCC. It has already been viewed more than 5 million times, attracting much more attention than it would have otherwise aired on CBS as scheduled.

Meanwhile, Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns CNN and other cable television outlets, has agreed to resume talks with SkyDance/CBS — which is Trump’s preference — after striking a deal to sell itself to Netflix. The implicit threat of an antitrust investigation if Skydance gets the nod casts a pall over the process.

For his part, Carr spoke to reporters at a press conference yesterday, calling it a “hoax” that his agency had anything to do with CBS’ decision. He called it “a perfect summary of why the American people trust gas station sushi more than they trust the national media.”

What’s more, the chairman said: “I think you guys should feel a little bit ashamed that you were lied to and then you just go with those lies. I think it was an embarrassing episode for the media.”

Jimmy Kimmel Hosts Los Angeles Fundraiser for House Democrats: Report

Whatever Carr’s influence, or lack thereof, played a role in the decision last year by Disney, ABC’s parent company, to pull The Jimmy Kimmel Show from the air.

Kimmel made a mistake after the assassination Charlie Kirkin wrongly claiming that the killer was part of the MAGA movement. Carr said this was biased reporting and raised questions about the ABC’s broadcast licence.

This made it seem, fair or not, that Disney was bowing to government pressure.

The move, as you may recall, turned out to be a huge mistake. The backlash was so great that Kimmel was put back on the air a week later.

But now Kimmel has crossed another line.

Meanwhile, Kimmel will host a fundraiser for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee next month. (Michael Le Brecht/Disney via Getty Images)

He’s hosting Los Angeles fundraising Next month for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

The ticket price for the event, which will feature Hakeem Jeffries and Nancy Pelosi, is at least $25,000. For those willing to pay more, tickets range from $44,000 for “Leader’s Circle” to $310,100 for “Jeffries 300,” according to the invitation.

After playing a small role by interviewing Trump about his feud with Jimmy, which escalated their rhetoric, I don’t think ABC should allow that. Anyone who watches Kimmel’s five-minute show knows he’s staunchly anti-Trump.

But helping one political party raise significant amounts of money should be prohibited. It obliterates any defense against hyperpartisanship.

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Fifteen years ago, MSNBC suspended popular anchor Keith Olbermann without pay after he admitted donating the maximum $2,400 to three Democrats running for office, one of whom was a guest on his show.

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But times seem to have changed, with more zeros coming out, and ABC really needs to address this issue. And so, by the way, should Jimmy Kimmel.