BOOMERANG: COLBERT’S CUT TALARICO INTERVIEW GETS MORE YOUTUBE VIEWS THAN BAD BUNNY
Oops. This is what you call a boomerang. But in another way…is it?
As its parent company Paramount Global — owned by Donald Trump ally David Ellison — is enmeshed in down-to-the-wire efforts to buy Warner Bros Discovery, CBS nixed airing a taped segment on The Late Show where host Stephen Colbert interviewed Democratic Texas State Rep. James Talarico. It has been seen by many as a way for Paramount to curry favor with Trump by squelching the interview. Instead, the interview is now at more 7 million views on You Tube and brought in big bucks for Talarico’s campaign for the Texas Democratic Party’s Governor’s nomination.
“The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” was blocked on Monday by CBS from broadcasting its interview with Texas State Rep. James Talarico — fearing retribution from the FCC. So, instead the conversation was posted on YouTube and other social media platforms, where at last count, the clip had been viewed more than 5.3 million times. Talarico also revealed on X that his campaign raised $2.5 million in the 24 hours after Colbert revealed he was barred from airing the interview.
That’s an astounding number for a video that has been up for less than 48 hours — and already puts it among the top political interviews that have ever been posted by “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” since its launch in 2015. It’s also easily the most-watched YouTube clip so far this year for “The Late Show” — and its most-watched Colbert clip since one in September, where the host celebrated the return of fellow host Jimmy Kimmel after his own battle with his parent network (ABC) and the FCC.
And:
As of Wednesday morning, the Talarico interview — which can be found here — has been viewed X.X million times on YouTube, 4 million views on TikTok and 400,000 likes on Instagram. What’s remarkable is that any other Colbert “Late Show” political interviews that have higher numbers were posted prior to 2019. Those clips have had several years of cumulative traffic, compared to the mere days that the Talarico clip has had.
Some estimates now put total viewership at 15 million.
Dan Rather and Team Steady on Substack add this perspective:
As Colbert explained, this all happened because the Federal Communications Commission issued a letter in January saying it was considering changes to the equal time rule. The rule requires that broadcasts featuring political candidates must offer equal time to their opponents if requested. But news programs, late-night and daytime talk shows, and radio have long been exempt from the rule.
It is laughable to think Fox’s line-up of hosts are being instructed to cancel guests. No, Brendan Carr, the FCC chairman, is and has been targeting programming unflattering to Donald Trump.
….As of this writing on Tuesday afternoon, Colbert’s interview of Talarico, which streamed on YouTube, as well as X, TikTok and Instagram, has been viewed well over 15 million times. That’s six times more views than if CBS had simply let Colbert interview the Texan on the broadcast.
What’s really going on here? Two things: First, Paramount Global is in a knockdown fight with Netflix to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery. The last thing Paramount needs is to get on the bad side of the guy (Trump) making the decision about the Warner Bros. deal. Second, Republicans think Talarico would be tougher to beat than Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, his primary opponent. So they wanted to deny him a national platform.
Whatever the intent, the Republican strategy has backfired badly. As Talarico said, Trump is worried Democrats will flip Texas.
CBS is now challenging Colbert’s version of events and Colbert responded by in essence calling the corporation’s statement a lie.
This is how CBS and the White House responded:
In an emailed statement, CBS said: “THE LATE SHOW was not prohibited by CBS from broadcasting the interview with Rep. James Talarico. 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 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.”
In a statement, the White House defended the FCC. “Stephen Colbert is a pathetic trainwreck with no talent and terrible ratings, which is exactly why CBS canceled his show and is booting him off the airwaves,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle said. “FCC Chairman Brendan Carr is simply doing his job and enforcing the rules.”
Colbert then responded on the air:
“Without ever talking to me, the corporation put out this press release…This statement, it’s a surprisingly small piece of paper considering how many butts it’s trying to cover.”
So: 1)The effort to squelch what Talarico had to say failed and even helped him. 2)Paramount Global got to give Donald Trump the equivalent of a bibical burnt offering to show its deference and devotion to Donald Trump.
Is there any suspense on what Trump will do next in the Warners Discovery sale?
Here’s the Talarico interview cut from Colbert’s broadcast but viewable online:
GO HERE to see his response to the CBS statement.
Stephen Colbert rebuked CBS on-air after the networked issued a press release refuting his take on Monday night's un-aired James Talarico interview: "They know damn well that every word of my script was approved by CBS lawyers." https://t.co/9iVKDNm3AT
— LateNighter (@latenightercom) February 18, 2026
BREAKING: Stephen Colbert destroys CBS's damage control lies about the cancellation of his James Talarico interview and says that he's "so surprised that this giant global corporation would not stand up to these bullies."
He wasn't about to let them slither off the hook…… pic.twitter.com/Fdlyi5P1ci
— Occupy Democrats (@OccupyDemocrats) February 18, 2026
Colbert is not mad at CBS, he's just disappointed ? "I'm just so surprised that this giant, global corporation would not stand up to these bullies." https://t.co/c3Mbl98vLe pic.twitter.com/Hkjhi4zuJY
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) February 18, 2026
Washington Monthly is reporting that Trump could block Netflix’s bid for Warner Bros. and help Paramount win, a move that would consolidate control of Fox, CBS, CNN & even TikTok under interests aligned with him.
The implications for media independence would be massive. ?
— ? Brittany Belle ? (@BrittanyinTexas) February 18, 2026
Whether you believe Colbert's account of what happened, or the CBS statement, the big-picture story is the same: Pressure from Trump's FCC is influencing decisions at broadcast TV networks. https://t.co/WdC26RH3ZI
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) February 18, 2026
'Trump is worried': Experts say FCC move to kill Colbert interview backfired big time https://t.co/sIxVQmCG6l
— Piyush Mittal ??????? (@piyushmittal) February 18, 2026
The Late Show averages about 2 million viewers. @JamesTalarico’s banned interview with Stephen Colbert has over 40 million views on his social media pages alone.
Generational backfire. https://t.co/PvjHuGCvAC
— Antonio Esparza (@AntonioAEsparza) February 18, 2026
Whatever you think about the FCC rule (which includes exceptions for talk shows; Chairman Carr says he may change how he enforces it) this claim about Colbert and Crockett is demonstrably untrue.
She appeared on Colbert's show just last year https://t.co/pRIjIGeD06 https://t.co/sqIEEC9vfb
— David Folkenflik (@davidfolkenflik) February 17, 2026
CBS turmoil deepens as Cooper quits and Colbert defies lawyers https://t.co/lOP4YGoA0v
— Financial Times (@FT) February 17, 2026
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