ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! will not broadcast its scheduled interview with Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico on television, host Jimmy Kimmel announced during his Wednesday monologue. According to Rollingstone, the decision to pull the broadcast comes after President Donald Trump’s Federal Communications Commission issued threats against the program, the network ABC, and local station affiliates over guest booking decisions. Kimmel stated that out of consideration for local stations, particularly ABC affiliates in Texas that would have to deal with the pressure, the discussion with Talarico will instead be released on the show’s YouTube channel.
Jimmy Kimmel Moves James Talarico Interview to YouTube
Talarico is facing a close Senate race in Texas against state Attorney General Ken Paxton. During Wednesday’s broadcast, Kimmel criticized Paxton and pointed out that Democrats have not won a national seat in Texas in more than three decades. Talarico, a former school teacher and Presbyterian seminarian serving his fourth term in the Texas House of Representatives, has drawn national attention by packaging progressive values around combating wealth inequality and holding Washington elite to account.
FCC Pressure and Equal-Time Rule Guidance
The regulatory conflict stems from new guidance issued by FCC Chair Brendan Carr regarding the agency’s “equal time” rule, which mandates that broadcasters featuring qualified political candidates must provide equivalent airtime to rivals if requested. While late-night talk shows traditionally enjoyed exemptions from these regulations, the Trump administration’s FCC indicated those protections would no longer apply, putting pressure on traditional broadcast networks.
Kimmel noted during his monologue that he has hosted political candidates from both major parties over the span of his 20-plus-year show, including Donald Trump himself when Trump ran for president in 2015 and 2016. At that time, when he was the one sitting next to me, he seemed to have no problem with the idea of talk show hosts interviewing candidates,
Kimmel said, adding that Trump was very eager to appear before securing the nomination. But for some reason, and I can’t seem to figure out what that reason is, something has changed now that he is president.
According to Variety, Carr’s agency has previously threatened to pull the licenses of ABC’s eight owned-and-operated local television stations, demanded ABC take action against Kimmel following previous comments, and initiated a formal review into whether ABC daytime talk show The View qualifies for exemptions to the equal-time rules. These actions led ABC to file a lawsuit against the FCC alleging an assault on free-speech rights.
Precedents and Broader Political Fallout
The situation mirrors an incident from February, when CBS lawyers barred Stephen Colbert from airing an interview with Talarico on The Late Show, citing FCC pressure and equal-time rule threats. At the time, Colbert observed that he and Kimmel were among the television hosts most affected by the regulatory enforcement.
Despite being blocked from traditional television broadcasts, the digital relocations have provided significant public visibility for the candidate. Following the February incident involving CBS, Talarico’s senatorial campaign raised $2.5 million within 24 hours, and the accompanying YouTube clip garnered 9.5 million views. Kimmel encouraged viewers to watch the full interview on the Jimmy Kimmel Live! YouTube channel and emphasized the importance of voter registration ahead of the November election.
