‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ Moves Interview With Texas Senate Candidate James Talarico From TV to YouTube Due to FCC Threats

Sep 9, 2026 10:28pm PT ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ Moves Interview With Texas Senate Candidate James Talarico From TV to YouTube Due to FCC Threats Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large franklinavenue Latest ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ Moves Interview With Texas Senate Candidate James Talarico From TV to YouTube Due to FCC Threats 46 minutes ago ‘Shrinking,’ ‘Paradise,’ ‘Washington Black’ Lead Humanitas Prize Winners List 2 hours ago ‘Charlie’s Angels’ Reunion, Zendaya and ‘Buffy’ Alums Sarah Michelle Gellar, David Boreanaz Among Confirmed Emmys Presenters 10 hours ago See All Jimmy Kimmel Live Another late-night talk show has pre-empted an interview with Texas state Rep. James Talarico: This time, it’s ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live.” On Wednesday’s episode of “JKL,” Kimmel revealed that his interview with Talarico, who’s running for Senate as the Texas Democratic candidate, won’t be aired on the show’s over-the-air broadcast. Instead, it will be shown on YouTube. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's WFAC, Creativeland Take 'Krishnavataram' Global (EXCLUSIVE) Kimmel explained that the decision not to air Talarico’s interview on broadcast came out of concerns that a politically motivated FCC has continually threatened ABC station licenses. “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,” he said. “It will be posted on YouTube instead. It will not be on TV.” Popular on Variety In February, “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” was also told it couldn’t run an interview with Talarico. At the time CBS lawyers had barred Colbert from airing the interview in a preemptive bow to FCC pressure over the agency’s push to apply its “equal time” rule to late-night talk shows. Ultimately, the Talarico campaign raised $2.5 million in the 24 hours after Colbert revealed he was barred from airing the interview, and the YouTube clip garnered 9.5 million views. Kimmel has reasons to be concerned: Under the FCC chairman Brendan Carr, the agency has arguably been weaponized, as it aggressively takes on critics of the Trump administration. That includes threatening to pull the licenses of ABC’s eight owned-and-operated local TV stations, demanding ABC take action against Kimmel last year (by saying “We can do this the easy way or the hard way”) and initiating a formal review of whether ABC daytime talk show “The View” qualifies for an exemption to the agency’s equal-time rules for political candidates.