Jimmy Kimmel Live Does Not Broadcast Talarico Interview and Moves It to YouTube; Kimmel Says the FCC Has Threatened His Show

On the night of Wednesday, Jimmy Kimmel said in his monologue that Jimmy Kimmel Live would not broadcast its interview with James Talarico, the Democratic U.S. Senate candidate in Texas, and would post it on YouTube on Thursday instead (CNBC, and the New York Times report as carried by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser). The entry date is that Wednesday, September 2026.

Kimmel’s reason, in his words (his statement, not a finding). Now that Trump is president, he said, “his FCC has threatened me, threatened our show, threatened our network, ABC, our affiliates, our local stations,” based on “simple, traditional editorial decisions.” CNBC adds he called the decision to keep the interview off television “out of consideration” for ABC affiliates who he said would have to “deal with this nonsense” of FCC scrutiny. And on the air: “In the America we live in right now, that is the best we can do, until November, of course.” ABC had no comment to the Times; the FCC did not immediately respond to CNBC.

Context as reported. The Times notes that in February Stephen Colbert announced CBS had prevented him from interviewing Talarico on the broadcast, citing the same FCC guidance, and that the January guidance affects only political candidates running for office, not elected officials. ABC’s own complaint against the FCC, filed in August, says: “No candidate for public office has appeared on The View since the Bureau’s February 2026 inquiry regarding Mr. Talarico’s appearance on February 2, 2026.” (see 2026-08-18–abc-disney-sue-fcc-first-amendment-retaliation-complaint-says-no-candidate-on-the-view-since-february). The pending FCC proceeding behind the dispute is the early renewal of ABC’s stations (see 2026-04-28–fcc-media-bureau-da-26-416-calls-in-abc-eight-station-licenses-for-early-renewal).

What this entry records. A broadcaster’s decision, announced by the host and explained in his own words, to move a candidate interview from broadcast to YouTube. The sources record no FCC action tied to this booking, and no FCC statement on it turned up. The interview’s YouTube upload was reported as scheduled for Thursday; the upload itself was not viewed for this entry.

Research Gaps

• The original New York Times article (the syndicated copy was read; the original was not fetched) and the monologue video were not reviewed; quotations here rest on CNBC and the syndicated Times text.
• Confirm the YouTube upload date and the interview’s content.
• Any FCC or Carr response to the announcement.