ABC
Jimmy Kimmel had to pull an interview with James Talarico due to FCC threats
Jimmy Kimmel announced on Tuesday night that his interview with Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico will not air on television. Kimmel said the interview had to be pulled due to threats from the FCC.
This is now the second time that James Talarico has been blocked from a late-night television appearance. Back in February, CBS lawyers barred The Late Show with Stephen Colbert from airing a Talarico interview in a preemptive bow to FCC pressure.
The censorship may have backfired, however, as the interview generated 9.5 million YouTube views and $2.5 million in campaign donations in the subsequent 24 hours.
Jimmy Kimmel pulled his interview with Texas Senate candidate James Talarico from TV after threats from the Trump administration’s FCC
“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,” Kimmel said.
“It will be posted on YouTube instead. Trump’s 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.”
“So if you want to learn about a candidate for the Senate, you will have to go to the ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ YouTube channel, where you will see it in its entirety. And thank goodness we have that, because in the America we live in right now, that is the best that we can do until November, of course. Make sure you’re registered to vote, by the way, because that’s the most important thing you can do.”
BREAKING: Jimmy Kimmel announces his interview with Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico will NOT air on ABC tomorrow, saying Trump’s FCC has threatened him, his show, ABC, its affiliates, and local stations over “simple traditional editorial decisions” and guest… pic.twitter.com/VitDtSjHet
— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) September 10, 2026
Kimmel’s show has been in a long-standing dispute with the FCC and chairman Brendan Carr, who reportedly pressured ABC into suspending Kimmel over comments he made following the shooting of Charlie Kirk.
“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and with everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said.
President Trump is similarly obsessed with Jimmy Kimmel Live!, as he often posts on social media about how the comedian should be taken off the air.
Earlier this week, N+ Univision, the news division of TelevisaUnivision, released a new poll that showed Rep. James Talarico holding a narrow edge over Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, 48% to 43%, with 7% undecided in the Texas Senate race.