Stephen Colbert threw a tantrum Monday night after CBS lawyers pulled the plug on his planned interview with Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico, citing concerns about the FCC's equal time mandate. The late-night host, who has built his late-night career on partisan snark, was not happy about it.

Colbert told his audience that Talarico was "supposed to be here,” but CBS lawyers informed the production team "in no uncertain terms…that we could not have him on the broadcast." The network also instructed Colbert not to mention the situation on air, an instruction he promptly ignored with theatrical defiance.

"Because my network clearly doesn't want us to talk about this, let's talk about this," Colbert announced before launching into his grievance session.

The FCC's equal time rule requires broadcast networks to provide equal airtime to opposing political candidates. According to the Philadelphia Enquirer, the FCC hasn’t applied the rule to late-night television since 2006, when it determined that then–California gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger’s appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno counted as a “bona fide news interview.”

But FCC chair Brendan Carr sent a notice last month suggesting talk shows should no longer qualify for this exemption. Carr argued some programs were "motivated by partisan purposes"—a claim that seems difficult to dispute given Colbert's nightly content.

Colbert fired back at the Trump-appointed FCC chair with predictable venom. "FCC you…because I think you are motivated by partisan purposes yourself," he said, before pivoting to his standard Trump material.

"Let's just call this what it is. Donald Trump's administration wants to silence anyone who says anything bad about Trump on TV, because all Trump does is watch TV. He's like a toddler with too much screen time…So it's no surprise…that two of the people most affected by this threat are me and my friend Jimmy Kimmel," Colbert declared.

This accusation falls apart under scrutiny. Colbert has continued to have elected Democrats and far-left celebrities on his show without issue. In fact, he had Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro on The Late Show last month. During the interview, he blasted President Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minneapolis as “pure evil” while calling Vice President JD Vance a “sycophant” and a “suck-up.”

Shapiro’s interview didn’t trigger equal time requirements because the equal time rule applies only to a “legally qualified candidate for any public office.”

Shapiro had announced his reelection bid in Philadelphia last month, but he wasn’t officially a candidate at the time of the appearance. He only became one when Pennsylvania’s formal filing period opened Tuesday. 

But Colbert’s tantrum also ignored an obvious solution. Colbert could have simply invited the Republican U.S. Senate candidates in Texas onto the show to comply with equal-time requirements. But that would require actually giving airtime to conservatives, something Colbert apparently finds unthinkable. Instead, he chose faux martyrdom.

Carr responded to the controversy by proposing another solution: that if Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel did not want to comply with broadcast regulations, "then they can go to a cable channel or podcast or a streaming service." 

The suggestion seems reasonable given the proliferation of digital platforms, but Colbert treated it as an outrage.

"Great idea, man whose job is to regulate broadcast TV, suggest everyone just leave broadcast TV," Colbert shot back.

The interview was ultimately posted to The Late Show's YouTube page, where equal time rules do not apply. Colbert criticized CBS for what he characterized as premature compliance with an FCC notice that has not yet officially eliminated the talk show exception.

"Now, as I said, at this point, he's [Carr] just released a letter that says he's thinking about doing away with the exception for late night. He hasn't done away with it yet, but my network is unilaterally enforcing it as if he had," Colbert said.

When the audience booed CBS's decision, Colbert delivered a sarcastic jab at his own employer. "I want to assure you, this decision is for purely financial reasons," he quipped, an obvious reference to the fact that his show was cancelled because the network was losing money on the show.

The controversy reveals an awkward reality for partisan late-night hosts. Broadcast television operates under different regulatory standards than cable or streaming platforms precisely because it uses public airwaves. Equal time rules exist for a reason: to prevent networks from weaponizing access to those airwaves for political advantage.

That means Colbert's complaint essentially amounts to a demand for special treatment so that he can promote Democratic candidates without offering Republicans the same opportunity for an interview.

CBS's legal team appears to have calculated that preemptive compliance carries less risk than gambling on regulatory exemptions that may soon disappear. There’s no guarantee that Carr's proposed rule change will survive legal challenges, but networks clearly view the threat as credible enough to alter programming decisions.

Colbert, an old hand at playing the victim card, couldn’t help but frame the situation as censorship and authoritarianism. Yet, the only thing that prevented the interview from getting aired was himself and his refusal to give equal time to the Republican candidates in that election.