Jimmy Kimmel Keeps His Interview With Texas Senate Nominee James Talarico Off ABC and Puts It on YouTube Instead, Saying Trump's FCC "Has Threatened Me, Threatened Our Show, Threatened Our Network" — the FCC's Lone Democrat Calls It Proof the "Campaign of Censorship and Control" Is Working, and the White House Says Kimmel Is "Play-Acting"
On Wednesday night, Sept. 9, 2026, Jimmy Kimmel told his ABC audience that his interview with James Talarico, the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate in Texas, would not air on television. "For the whole 20-plus years of our show, in fact, I've been interviewing Americans who are running for office with no problem at all," Kimmel said. "Now that he's president, his FCC has threatened me, threatened our show, threatened our network, ABC, our affiliates, our local stations." The conversation was posted to the "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" YouTube channel on Thursday, Sept. 10, and drew more than two million views within half a day. The pressure Kimmel described is the equal-time rule. In January, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr issued guidance saying daytime and late-night talk shows may not be exempt from the requirement that broadcasters offer comparable airtime to every qualified candidate for an office — in this case Talarico's Republican opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. YouTube does not use the public airwaves and is not covered by the rule. The Kimmel episode repeats what happened in February, when CBS kept Talarico's interview with Stephen Colbert off the air over the same concern, and comes three weeks after ABC and Disney sued the FCC alleging First Amendment retaliation. Talarico called the pressure "the most dangerous form of cancel culture" and told Kimmel his opponents are "worried that we're going to win this race in Texas." Anna Gomez, the only Democrat on the FCC, said the decision "shows just how far this Administration's campaign of censorship and control has gone." The White House answered through assistant press secretary Davis Ingle that "Chairman Carr has not threatened him regarding interviewing James Talarico, or any other candidate." Carr himself had not commented. Kimmel used the episode to invite Paxton on the show; Paxton's campaign said "no Texan wants to watch James Talarico and two of his fellow far-left activists posing as moderators."
“He's just running the same hoax he did a few months ago on Colbert for the purpose of getting clicks and donations. … He's banking on people not understanding the statute or operating as partisan lemmings.”