Late-night host Stephen Colbert has accused his network of refusing to broadcast his interview with a Democratic politician over fears of retaliation by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
CBS, the network which hosts the programme, denies that it "prohibited" the interview from being aired, saying it gave only "legal guidance".
On his Monday night show, Colbert said that CBS wouldn't show his interview with Texas lawmaker James Talarico out of concerns of a response from the FCC, which has new guidance on equal airtime for political candidates.
"We were told in no uncertain terms by our network's lawyers, who called us directly, that we could not have him on the broadcast," he said.
"Then, then I was told in some uncertain terms that not only could I not have him on, I could not mention me not having him on. And because my network clearly doesn't want us to talk about this, let's talk about this."
