READ: High-Ranking Senate Dem Demands Answers From Paramount as Colbert Interview Dispute Sparks Probe

Senate Democrats escalated the fallout from Stephen Colbert’s claim that he was barred from airing an interview with Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico and have launched a formal inquiry into CBS’s parent company, Paramount, demanding to see “all records” related to its decision-making on the matter.

Colbert alleged he was prevented from airing the interview on the February 16 episode of The Late Show because of FCC chair Brendan Carr’s threats to enforce the “equal time” rule against TV talk shows.

CBS has denied that claim in a statement, saying it was merely offering legal advice.

Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), the ranking member of the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), sent a letter published exclusively by Status to Paramount chief executive David Ellison, demanding documents and communications related to the decision not to broadcast Colbert’s interview with Talarico.

The request forms part of a broader probe into what Blumenthal described as the FCC’s “abuse of power” under Carr, a Trump appointee.

In the letter, Blumenthal wrote that “Paramount’s acquiescence to political pressure” from Carr “raises the alarming prospect that Paramount is willing to silence free speech to elicit political favors from the Trump Administration.”

Blumenthal questioned why Paramount chose “to preemptively comply, rather than stand up for the First Amendment and challenge any attempted enforcement,” and demanded records of communications between the company and the FCC, including “any attempts” to comply with the rule.

In a separate letter to the FCC, Blumenthal said Carr’s “attempt to ground his partisan censorship scheme under legal pretense willfully misinterprets and disregards decades of settled precedent and ignores Americans’ fundamental freedom of speech guaranteed by the First Amendment.”

A Paramount spokesperson told Status’ Oliver Darcy the company had not yet seen the letter but would “review it carefully,” adding: “We appreciate and respect the senator’s interest in this issue.”

Read the letter in full below:

Mr. David Ellison
Chairman & CEO
Paramount Skydance Corporation
5555 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90038

Dear Mr. Ellison:

I write regarding Paramount’s apparent willingness to censor critical news and satire at the behest of the President, particularly as it is attempting to acquire Warner Bros. in part by promoting its close ties to the White House. Paramount’s acquiescence to political pressure from Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) Chair Brendan Carr, preventing Stephen Colbert from airing an interview with Texas U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico, raises the alarming prospect that Paramount is willing to silence free speech to elicit political favors from the Trump Administration. I therefore write to request records and information related to Paramount’s communications with the FCC and the White House, and its interventions into the editorial decisions of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

On February 16, 2026, Stephen Colbert announced that CBS management prevented him from airing an interview with Mr. Talarico, with management going so far as to direct Mr. Colbert to not mention the interview on television. According to Mr. Colbert, CBS mandated that The Late Show not show or host interviews with political candidates unless they offer equal time to all possible competitors. CBS claimed that its intervention was due to the FCC’s January 21, 2026 press release that purported to reverse and narrow, without justification, the longstanding exception to the equal time rule for news interviews. While the exception has allowed The Late Show and other programs to interview candidates without equal time for several decades, CBS apparently abruptly chose to use the FCC announcement to pressure or require Mr. Colbert to stop the broadcast of the interview.

FCC Chair Brendan Carr’s announcement clearly seeks to insert the FCC into broadcasters’ editorial decisions by declaring that it will enforce the equal time rule over what it deems as programming “motivated by partisan purposes,” targeting what the Chair Carr labeled “the fake news.” As FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez stated, while the legality of the guidance is questionable, “it does represent an escalation in this FCC’s ongoing campaign to censor and control speech,” a position taken by other experts in FCC law. The FCC’s distortion of the equal time rule represents a radical departure from Congressional intent and decades of rulings from Democrat and Republican-led Commissions, including rulings that found Phil Donahue, Jerry Springer, Howard Stern, and Jay Leno were exempt. While CBS claimed Mr. Colbert could host all other candidates, in practice that would require providing airtime for up to 14 other candidates, which would create exactly the “virtual blackout” that Congress sought to prevent by enacting an exception to the equal time rule in 1959.

The Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (“the Subcommittee”) is conducting a preliminary inquiry into the FCC’s abuse of power, including dubious investigations and misrepresentations of the law to silence free speech.

Additionally, the Subcommittee is engaged in an inquiry into political favoritism and the apparent corruption of antitrust review under the Trump Administration, including the FCC’s review of Skydance’s acquisition of Paramount and Paramount’s attempts to acquire Warner Bros. Paramount’s decision to comply, while it is attempting to enlist the Department of Justice and White House to intervene in the Warner Bros.’ transaction, calls into question its motivations for silencing Mr. Colbert.

Pursuant to Senate Resolution 94 (119th Cong.) and PSI Rule 1, please provide information and records responsive to the following requests by March 6, 2026.

1. What role did you and other Paramount executives (including CBS management) have in the decision to require The Late Show, and any other programs, to follow Chair Carr’s dubious interpretation of the equal time rule? Given the clear legal and procedural deficiencies behind the new guidance, why did Paramount or CBS decide to preemptively comply, rather than stand up for the First Amendment and challenge any attempted enforcement?

2. What communications did Paramount (including yourself, and other Paramount and CBS executives) have with the FCC or White House about the equal time rule, including the decision to require Stephen Colbert to comply with Chair Carr’s equal time rule guidance?

3. Please provide all records related to any attempts by Paramount to enforce Chair Carr’s January 21 guidance, including but not limited to records related to the decision to prevent Colbert from airing the interview of Mr. Talarico and guidance provided to The Late Show.

4. Has Paramount required programs other than The Late Show to comply with Chair Carr’s equal time rule? If so, what guidance has been provided to editorial staff about the requirements for compliance?

Please contact the Subcommittee should you have any questions about responding to these requests. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Richard Blumenthal

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