Jimmy Kimmel posts full interview with Texas Senate candidate after citing FCC constraints
Select a version of the text written from a presumed ideological perspective. This is not the original text, but a hypothetical version — how someone with that viewpoint might have phrased it. Tapping the current version again will return to the original or select cleaned version.
The comedian released the interview online, saying the Federal Communications Commission warned that airing it could trigger the equal-time rule, while the candidate criticized the state's political establishment.
Jimmy Kimmel posted the complete interview with Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico on the show's YouTube channel after telling viewers the segment would not be broadcast on ABC. Kimmel said the Federal Communications Commission had warned that airing the conversation could violate the FCC's equal-time rule, which requires broadcasters to give comparable coverage to all election candidates.
Talarico, who is running against Attorney General Ken Paxton, argued that the FCC’s stance reflects a broader effort to suppress challenges to the state's political leadership. He described his campaign as a grassroots movement confronting a “corrupt system.”
Kimmel referenced a similar situation earlier this year when Talarico’s interview with Stephen Colbert was limited to online release after CBS lawyers raised equal-time concerns. The comedian noted that the interview would not appear on the televised broadcast so local ABC affiliates would avoid potential FCC issues.
The FCC’s January guidance clarified that late-night talk shows do not automatically qualify for an exemption from the equal-time rule, stating that programs motivated by partisan purposes are not entitled to such protection. The agency’s position contrasts with a 2006 ruling that granted a news-interview exemption to "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," a precedent that some broadcasters have applied to similar programs.
The dispute occurs amid a broader conflict between Disney, ABC’s parent company, and the FCC, with Disney alleging retaliatory actions by the agency. The White House denied that the FCC had threatened Kimmel, calling his claims “play-acting.” FCC Commissioner Anna M. Gomez described Kimmel’s decision not to air the interview as evidence of a “campaign of censorship and control.”