Jimmy Kimmel Pulls James Talarico Interview From ABC, Says FCC Threatened His Show
Jimmy Kimmel is pulling his interview with Texas U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico from ABC television and putting it on YouTube instead, saying FCC pressure over political guest bookings has made broadcasting the conversation too risky for the network and its affiliates.
The interview is scheduled to appear online Thursday, bypassing the broadcast rules at the center of a growing fight between television networks and the Federal Communications Commission over candidate appearances.
Kimmel said Wednesday that he has interviewed political candidates throughout his more than two decades on television without facing the same concerns. He pointed to his 2016 interview with Donald Trump when Trump was running for president.
“Now that he is president, his FCC threatened me, threatened our show, threatened our network ABC, our affiliates, our local stations,” Kimmel said, tying the dispute to editorial decisions over guest bookings.
The dispute centers on federal equal-opportunities rules for political candidates. When a broadcast station gives a legally qualified candidate airtime, opposing candidates for the same office can be entitled to comparable opportunities. Certain appearances, including qualifying news interviews, are exempt.
Late-night and daytime programs have previously received those exemptions under FCC decisions when their interviews qualified as bona fide news programming.
In January, the FCC’s Media Bureau warned broadcasters against assuming earlier decisions automatically protect current shows. The agency said whether a program qualifies for the exemption depends on the circumstances surrounding the show and its candidate appearances.
Talarico, a Democrat, is running against Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for the U.S. Senate.
His appearance on Kimmel’s show is the latest political interview to be diverted from broadcast television amid questions over the FCC rules.
Earlier this year, Stephen Colbert interviewed Talarico for “The Late Show,” but the conversation was released on YouTube rather than aired on CBS. Colbert said network lawyers prevented the interview from airing because of concerns over equal-opportunities requirements.
ABC’s “The View” has faced similar scrutiny after hosting Talarico in January. Disney has since said the program stopped booking political candidates following FCC pressure.
The regulatory fight extends beyond candidate interviews.
Disney and ABC sued the FCC in August over Chair Brendan Carr’s decision to begin early reviews of licenses held by eight ABC-owned television stations. Those licenses were not scheduled for renewal until at least October 2028.
The reviews were ordered in April, one day after Trump publicly called for ABC to fire Kimmel. Disney argues the government is using its regulatory authority to retaliate against the company over programming and editorial decisions protected by the First Amendment.
The FCC disputes Disney’s claims. Carr has defended the agency’s oversight of broadcasters and said stations using public airwaves remain subject to federal law and public-interest obligations.
Broadcast television differs from streaming platforms in a key way. Local stations transmit over public airwaves under licenses issued by the FCC, giving the agency regulatory authority that does not extend to YouTube in the same way.
By moving the interview to YouTube, Kimmel can release it outside the broadcast rules that apply to ABC affiliates.
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, the commission’s lone Democrat, has criticized the January guidance, saying it did not create a new regulation or Commission-level change to the equal-opportunities framework. She has accused the agency of using regulatory pressure to influence broadcasters.
The fight over ABC’s station licenses is now moving through federal court. A judge declined Disney’s request for an expedited hearing in August, with additional filings due later in September.
The Talarico interview will appear on YouTube as Disney’s separate First Amendment challenge to the FCC’s early station-license reviews continues in federal court.
