FCC chairman Brendan Carr has accused Jimmy Kimmel and Democratic Senate hopeful James Talarico of a “hoax” over their recent late-night interview. Kimmel announced during his opening monologue on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Wednesday that he would be “interviewing James Talarico tomorrow night under unusual circumstances.” The late-night host explained that the interview would go directly to YouTube and not air on ABC amid the network’s ongoing FCC issues.
However, in a post on the social media site X, Carr responded to accuse Talarico of “running the same hoax he did a few months ago on Colbert for the purpose of getting clicks and donations.” Carr added: “He’s banking on people not understanding the statute or operating as partisan lemmings.” In February, Stephen Colbert posted his own interview with Talarico to YouTube. It has since been watched 9.6 million times. So far, Kimmel’s interview, which is billed on YouTube as one “the FCC Doesn’t Want You To See“, has been watched 8.1 million times.
Carr’s argument is that the FCC would not prevent Talarico from being interviewed on broadcast television as long as rival candidates were given “comparable time and placement.” New subscribers only. £9.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
Carr wrote: “The Equal Time statute does not prohibit anyone from interviewing anyone on broadcast TV. It is about more speech, not less. Congress wanted to ensure that voters would decide elections, not media gatekeepers picking winners and losers by providing preferential airtime to some candidates and not others.” He continued: “Indeed, when the statute applies, it simply requires broadcast stations to offer comparable time and placement.
And comparable does not necessarily mean an interview by the same person on the same program either.” The FCC’s scrutiny of ABC has become closely intertwined with Kimmel’s own clashes with the agency. Last year, Carr infamously threatened action against Kimmel after the comedian’s comments about Charlie Kirk’s killing, warning ABC and its affiliates that they could deal with the FCC “the easy way or the hard way” shortly before the network briefly pulled Kimmel’s show from the air. Last month, the network and its parent company Disney filed a First Amendment lawsuit against the government agency, accusing it of launching a “retaliatory campaign” over its news coverage and programming.
The suit specifically cites Carr's comments about Kimmel. The FCC has asked a court to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that the case belongs in a federal appeals court and that its review of ABC’s broadcast licenses is justified. Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
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