Jimmy Kimmel moves Texas Senate interview to YouTube citing FCC pressure

Jimmy Kimmel announced that his upcoming interview with Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico will not be aired on television, and will instead be posted to the show’s YouTube channel. Kimmel said the decision was made to protect ABC’s local affiliates in Texas from what he described as threats from the Federal Communications Commission during the Trump administration.

"The FCC has threatened me, threatened our show, threatened our network, ABC, our affiliates, our local stations, based on simple, traditional editorial decisions, guest bookings it would seem they don’t like," Kimmel said on his Wednesday broadcast.

"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 added.

Talarico, a state representative, is contesting the Senate seat against Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton. Neither Talarico’s campaign nor the FCC responded to requests for comment, and ABC Entertainment declined to comment.

The move follows similar reports that other late-night programs have altered their schedules due to FCC concerns. In February, Stephen Colbert said CBS did not air his interview with Talarico after legal counsel warned it could trigger the FCC’s equal-time rule for other candidates.

The FCC’s equal-time rule, which requires broadcasters to provide comparable airtime to all qualified candidates, was reaffirmed in a January memo that extended the rule to late-night and daytime talk shows, reversing a prior exemption.

Kimmel also recalled his 2015 interview with Donald Trump, noting the former president’s earlier openness to talk-show interviews, and joked about the shift in attitude.