- There is no evidence that the FCC issued a direct threat to Jimmy Kimmel or threatened his network to specifically prevent him from airing an interview with James Talarico, a Texas Democrat running for a U.S. Senate seat.
- Kimmel said in September 2026 that ABC would not air his interview with Talarico on television because the FCC had threatened him, ABC and its affiliates over “simple traditional editorial decisions, guest bookings it would seem they don’t like.” That could reference any or all of a large number of disputes between the Trump administration and ABC.
- ABC and Disney are suing the FCC for various alleged retaliatory measures, including the FCC’s decision to require early renewal of ABC’s broadcast license after Kimmel made a joke about first lady Melania Trump.
- Under President Donald Trump, the FCC has also issued guidance stating that late-night talk shows are not exempt from the equal-time rule, which essentially means broadcast stations must provide equal opportunities to political candidates, regardless of partisan affiliation. ABC may have pulled the interview for fear of running afoul of this rule.
- The White House denied that FCC Chairman Brendan Carr had threatened Kimmel and said Kimmel was “play-acting” to create a “false narrative” about the Trump administration’s policies. A “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” spokesperson did not immediately return a request for more information.
Jimmy Kimmel announced on Sept. 9, 2026, that his show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” would not air his interview with U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico on television, citing the Federal Communications Commission’s threats against the talk-show host’s network, ABC, under U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration.
Social media users circulated Kimmel’s accusations; some claimed Trump or the FCC tried to “block” the interview from airing. In response, readers searched our website to determine whether the FCC actually threatened Kimmel or blocked him from airing the interview with Talarico, a Democratic Texas state representative.
Here’s what Kimmel said about the situation (see 9:33 in the video below):
I interviewed Donald Trump when he was running for president in 2015. And at that time, when he was the one sitting next to me, he seemed to have no problem with the idea of talk-show hosts interviewing candidates. In fact, he was very eager to come back for another interview, which he did just before he became the nominee in 2016.
But for some reason, and I can’t seem to figure out what that reason is, something has changed.
Now that he is president, his 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.
And so 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. It will be posted on YouTube instead.
A closer look at Kimmel’s words indicates he didn’t actually say whether the alleged threat issued by the FCC specifically related to his Sept. 10 interview with Talarico. Kimmel said the FCC threatened him and ABC based on “simple traditional editorial decisions” and “guest bookings.” That could be a reference to past disputes between ABC and the Trump administration or changing guidelines from the FCC.
The White House said Brendan Carr, chairman of the FCC, has not threatened Kimmel “regarding interviewing James Talarico, or any other candidate.”
“Jimmy Kimmel is play-acting—as he often does—to create a false narrative about this administration’s policies,” Davis Ingle, a White House spokesman, said in an email. “Any media outlet blindly amplifying Kimmel’s egocentric delusion should insist on proof. Of which they will find none.”
A spokesperson for “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” didn’t immediately respond to a request for that proof, nor to a request to clarify whether Kimmel and ABC had received a specific threat — or whether the network made a proactive decision based on past experiences and Trump administration policy.
We left this claim unrated pending answers to those questions.
Here’s more on why ABC might have pulled Talarico’s interview from network television, aside from a possible direct threat:
ABC’s disputes with Trump administration
Kimmel’s accusation that the Trump administration has threatened him and his network could reference any or all of the many disputes he and his network have with the Trump administration.
In fact, Trump has repeatedly called for Kimmel’s firing and for the FCC to strip ABC of its licenses in response to various broadcasts he hasn’t liked.
In September 2025, ABC temporarily pulled Kimmel off air after comments he made about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The decision came after Carr suggested he might take action against Disney, ABC’s parent company, if it didn’t pull Kimmel’s show.
The president also called on ABC to fire Kimmel in April 2026 after the talk-show host made a joke about first lady Melania Trump. Shortly after, the FCC ordered ABC to seek early broadcast license renewals, an unprecedented move that can signal “significant concerns with the value” of the station’s operations, Carr said.
ABC and Disney sued the FCC in August 2026 for allegedly violating its free-speech rights, arguing (Page 3) that the Trump administration has “waged a retaliatory campaign against ABC for a single reason: it disapproves of what ABC broadcasts.”
FCC policy changes
It’s also possible ABC may have pulled Talarico’s interview from network television because of FCC guidance on giving equal time to political candidates on broadcast television under the Trump administration.
Some forms of broadcast media are exempt from this rule, including “bona fide,” or legitimate, newscasts and news interviews. But in January 2026, the FCC issued guidance stating that late-night talk shows don’t have a blanket exemption from the equal-time rule.
The FCC’s guidance said that, in 2006, the agency determined the interview portion of “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” qualified for as a “bona fide news interview” and thus would be exempt from the equal-time rule. Networks have relied on this ruling to mean that all late-night talk shows are exempt.
“This is not the case,” the FCC said on Page 4 of the notice. “The FCC has not been presented with any evidence that the interview portion of any late night or daytime television talk show program on air presently would qualify for the bona fide news exemption.”
The FCC’s guidance has had real effects. In February 2026, for example, talk-show host Stephen Colbert claimed CBS blocked an interview with Talarico on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” from airing on broadcast television because the network’s lawyers said in “no uncertain terms” that the interview could violate the FCC’s guidance.
(CBS reportedly disputed Colbert’s account and said its lawyers provided only “legal guidance,” not a direct prohibition.)
The bottom line
There’s no evidence the FCC directly threatened Kimmel, and a closer read of Kimmel’s comments indicated that Kimmel never accused the FCC of specifically blocking his interview with Talarico from airing on television.
However, that doesn’t mean the FCC hasn’t threatened Kimmel and ABC in other ways. The FCC and ABC are embroiled in several disputes, and ABC has alleged that the FCC is engaging in retaliatory measures because the Trump administration doesn’t like the network’s content.
