Kimmel Cancels Interview with Texas Senate Candidate Over FCC Pressure

Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel reveals FCC threatened to block interview with Texas Senate candidate James Talarico, moving it to YouTube instead.

Editorial Desk

September 10, 2026 One Min Read

POLICY WIRE — Los Angeles, United States — Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel has revealed that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) pressured his show to cancel an interview with Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico in Texas, leading to the decision to air the conversation exclusively on YouTube.

Kimmel stated that the agency “threatened” the show and its network, ABC, over the planned interview, which would have otherwise aired on television. This move marks the second time a major network has shifted a Talarico interview online due to concerns about FCC regulations, following a similar decision by Stephen Colbert’s show earlier this year.

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The interview with Talarico, who is running against Republican Ken Paxton, was not broadcast on TV but will be available on YouTube, bypassing any potential FCC oversight. The FCC did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but its sole Democrat commissioner, Anna Gomez, criticized the agency’s actions as part of a broader campaign of censorship.

Reporting by Policy-Wire (PW)

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