Free Speech

Jimmy Kimmel Didn't Air Talarico Interview Over Fear of FCC 'Equal Time' Threats

For the second time this year, Talarico appeared on a late-night show only to be bumped in response to federal threats.

Joe Lancaster | 9.11.2026 4:09 PM

Share on FacebookShare on XShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL Add Reason to Google

Media Contact & Reprint Requests

(Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/XCSTU/Newscom/Valeri Brojinski/Pixelrobot/Mohd Khairi Ibrahim/Dreamstime. Illustration: Fatima Ruiz.)

For the second time this year, James Talarico, the Texas Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, appeared on a late-night talk show only to get bumped from the nightly broadcast.

In each case, both the hosts and the network seemingly buckled to pressure from President Donald Trump and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). And just like in that earlier case, it provides a perfect example of why we should abolish the equal time rule.

"I'll be interviewing James Talarico tomorrow night under unusual circumstances," Jimmy Kimmel said Wednesday on his ABC talk show. But the TV audience would not see the segment because of fears that by airing it, ABC's affiliates could run afoul of the equal opportunities requirement, better known as the equal time rule.

The equal time rule states that if a "legally qualified candidate for any public office" appears on a broadcast network in the weeks leading up to the election, then the network must "afford equal opportunities to all other such candidates for that office."

The rule exempts "bona fide" news coverage, like interviews or newscasts, and the FCC had extended "bona fide" exemptions to chat shows like Kimmel's since 1984. But in January of this year, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr issued a directive that a broadcast could not be exempt if it was "motivated by partisan........

© Reason.com