CBS Censored Colbert. Here’s What You Can Do.
CBS is silencing Colbert, but we won’t stay silent. Watch the video below.
February 17, 2026
Last night, Stephen Colbert defied his own network. CBS lawyers told The Late Show they couldn’t have Texas state rep. James Talarico on the broadcast and couldn’t even mention being censored.
So Colbert did exactly what independent journalists do: He told the truth anyway.
This is the same CBS now run by a Trump lackey. The same corporate media that gutted the Washington Post. They’re not just buying the outlets anymore. They’re programming silence.
But I refuse to stay silent. And here’s exactly what you can do:
Three Actions That Matter
Contact the FCC. Contact the FCC at consumercomplaints.fcc.gov or call 1-888-CALL-FCC. Tell them that using “equal time” rules to silence late-night comedy isn’t protecting democracy. It’s destroying it.
Cancel Paramount Plus. CBS’s parent company needs to understand that censoring their own hosts has consequences. Every subscription you cancel sends a message: Americans won’t pay for their own censorship.
Third—and most important: Support new media that won’t self-censor: Raw America. Because the only way to defeat media capture is to fund media that can’t be captured.
While CBS lawyers silence Colbert, we’re building journalism that answers only to readers. While corporate outlets practice stenography, we deliver the raw truth. While oligarchs buy up newsrooms to shut them down, you fund newsrooms they can’t touch.
Why This Moment Matters
What happened to Colbert isn’t an isolated incident. It’s a test case. The oligarchs want to know: Will Americans accept having their TV pre-screened by corporate lawyers? Will we let them decide which politicians we’re allowed to hear from?
If we stay silent, the answer is yes.
But if enough of us choose independent journalism over corporate propaganda, we can write a different ending. One where readers, not oligarchs, decide what stories get told.
Raw America exists because you refuse to accept a world where all news comes filtered through billionaire-owned outlets. Every subscription funds journalism that can’t be bought, bullied, or banned from discussing inconvenient truths.
We don’t answer to corporate lawyers. We answer to you.
The Choice Is Ours
Colbert ended his monologue by posting his full Talarico interview on YouTube, showing exactly what CBS didn’t want Americans to see. A civil conversation with a state representative about the issues facing his constituents. We include the video below.
That’s what they’re censoring. Normal democratic discourse.
But they made one critical mistake: They assumed we’d all just accept it.
Your subscription to Raw America proves they’re wrong. Every upgrade funds another story oligarchs don’t want told. Every newsletter we send cracks their information monopoly a little wider.
This isn’t just about supporting our work. It’s about proving that Americans still believe in their right to hear uncensored voices, ask uncomfortable questions, and fund the journalism democracy requires.
The oligarchs bought the outlets. They installed compliant lawyers. They’re programming the silence. But they can’t program our response.
Join the Resistance
While corporate media practices self-censorship, we practice fearless journalism. While they silence inconvenient voices, we amplify them. While they serve oligarchs, we serve readers who refuse to be managed.
But that only works if brave readers like you choose to fund it.
Your subscription isn’t just supporting Raw America. It’s supporting the principle that Americans deserve to hear every side of every story—especially the sides that make powerful people uncomfortable.
Thank you for choosing truth over censorship, independence over oligarchy, readers over corporate lawyers.
Together, we’re proving that journalism’s best days aren’t behind us. They’re just beginning.
The only way to defeat media capture is to fund media that can’t be captured. Join our people-powered movement.
—John Byrne, Founder
Raw Story and Raw America
P.S. Colbert’s defiance reminded me why I started Raw Story 22 years ago: because Americans deserve journalism that can’t be silenced by lawyers or oligarchs. Help us build more of it.
Here’s the video we published that CBS censored: