Kimmel pulls Talarico interview after alleged FCC threat

Late-night television host Jimmy Kimmel said he decided not to air a scheduled interview with Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico due to unspecified threats from the Federal Communications Commission.

In a monologue on Wednesday, Kimmel said the interview would be posted on his show’s YouTube channel instead. He accused the FCC of threatening his show and ABC’s affiliate stations for “guest bookings it would seem they don’t like.”

“Out of consideration for our local stations, especially our ABC affiliates in Texas who would have to deal with this nonsense, my interview tomorrow with James Talarico will not air on television,” Kimmel said.

The drama echoes an earlier episode in February, when CBS pulled an interview with Talarico conducted by Stephen Colbert, the network’s former late-night host. Colbert posted the interview to YouTube instead, where it has racked up millions of views. Talarico raised $2.5 million in the ensuing controversy, his largest single-day haul as of that time.

The FCC didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Officials under President Donald Trump have been reasserting rules that forced broadcasters to offer candidates for public office equal time. Talk shows and news programs historically didn’t face the same rules, but the FCC, led by Chairman Brendan Carr, has said that should no longer be the case.     

Talarico is locked in a close race with Republican rival Ken Paxton, the state’s attorney general, in a contest that could decide control of the US Senate. Talarico is trying to pull off an upset after more than three decades in which Texas hasn’t elected anyone from his party to statewide office.

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