With four months of his late-night talk show left,Stephen Colbertis taking a jab at his employer, CBS, for paying $16 million to settle a lawsuit with the Trump administration.
On the Thursday, Jan. 22, episode of "The Late Show," the Emmy-winning comedian criticized PresidentDonald Trump's newBoard of Peace, initially intended to help end the two-year war betweenIsrael and Hamas in Gaza.
Countries must pay $1 billion for a permanent seat on the new board, which Trump said has the potential to be "one of the most consequential bodies," or else are offered a three-year term.
"Paying a billion dollars to obeyDonald Trumpseems a little steep. After all, CBS got to do it for just 16 million," Colbert said on his show. "Check my math. Check my math on that one."
The joke likely refers toParamount's $16 million settlement in Julyin a lawsuit filed by Trump, who alleged the network deceptively edited an interview that aired on its "60 Minutes" news program featuring then-Vice PresidentKamala Harris.
Colbert's dig toward CBS comes as "The Late Show" is set to air its final episode in May. Paramount canceled the late-night talk show last May, calling it "purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night."
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Colbert says new FCC guidance is trying to 'silence' late-night TV
The Federal Communications Commission issued aJan. 21 public noticewith new guidance stating that daytime and late-night television talk shows do not have a blanket exemption under the Communications Act of 1934.
The lawrequired FCC licensees, both in radio and later in television, to offer equal broadcast opportunities to political candidates andwas amended in 1959to exempt newscasts, news interviews, news documentariesand on-the-spot coverage of news events.
Colbert said the new guidance was an attempt to silence him,Seth MeyersandJimmy Kimmel, whose show ABC temporarily pulled off the air after FCC ChairBrendan Carr made comments interpreted by some as a threatto pull the ABC station licenses if Kimmel wasn't fired over remarks aboutCharlie Kirk's assassination.
"Hey, I'm flattered you think that appearing on my show has the power to affect politics in any way, OK? I've been doing this job for 21 years, and let me tell you something, buddy. If our government had turned out the way I had chosen, you would not have the power to make this announcement," Colbert quipped.
Following the FCC's public notice,Carr said on XJan. 21 that the new guidance reminds talk shows to remember their obligation to "provide all candidates with equal opportunities."
"For years, legacy TV networks assumed that their late night & daytime talk shows qualify as 'bona fide news' programs - even when motivated by purely partisan political purposes," he wrote.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Stephen Colbert, CBS feud heats up as he blasts Trump, condemns FCC
