Jimmy Kimmel says ABC will not broadcast his interview with Texas Democratic U.S. Senate nominee James Talarico and posted it on YouTube instead, blaming pressure from the Federal Communications Commission.
Kimmel told his audience Wednesday night that the Thursday sit-down would appear only on the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” YouTube channel “out of consideration for our local stations, especially our ABC affiliates in Texas,” the Houston Chronicle reported. He said the FCC had “threatened me, threatened our show, threatened our network, ABC, our affiliates, our local stations” over guest bookings “they don’t like.”
The Chronicle said it had sought comment from the FCC and both Senate campaigns. Deadline reported a White House spokesman on Thursday accused Kimmel of creating “a false narrative about this administration’s policies.”
Talarico, an Austin-area state representative, is running against Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton. Several polls show a tight race, the Chronicle reported. This is the second time this year a Talarico late-night interview has been kept off broadcast television. In February, Stephen Colbert said CBS would not air their interview because of FCC equal-time rules and posted it on YouTube instead. That clip drew about 9.5 million views, Variety reported, and Talarico’s campaign said it raised $2.5 million in 24 hours after the announcement.
Kimmel noted he interviewed Donald Trump twice in 2016 when Trump was a candidate. “When he was the one sitting next to me, he seemed to have no problem with the idea of talk show hosts interviewing candidates,” Kimmel said, according to the Chronicle.
ABC’s Houston station, ABC13, has been part of a separate FCC license review and a probe tied to Talarico’s appearance on “The View,” the Chronicle reported. Equal-time rules generally apply to broadcast TV and radio, not streaming. Kimmel said Thursday he was “bypassing the public airwaves,” The Wrap reported.
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