FCC TO INVESTIGATE, AND “TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION” ON STEPHEN COLBERT’S TRUMP RANT
The Federal Communications Commission will investigate and take appropriate action against television host and author Stephen Tyrone Colbert after the “Late Show” star made comments and cracked profane jokes about President Donald Trump.
FCC chief Ajit Pai revealed that the communications agency received a number of complaints about Colbert’s comments last week. He also promised that necessary actions will be taken if Colbert’s comments are considered obscene. “We are going to take the facts that we find and we are going to apply the law as it’s been set out by the Supreme Court and other courts and we’ll take the appropriate action,” Ajit Pai said on Thursday. “Traditionally, the agency has to decide, if it does find a violation, what the appropriate remedy should be,” he continued. "A fine, of some sort, is typically what we do.”
According to the FCC’s website, a comment can only be labeled as obscene if it meets a three-tier Supreme Court test.
During his opening monologue on last Monday night, Stephen Colbert criticized the decision of President Trump to abruptly halt an interview with CBS News’ “Face the Nation” host John Dickerson.
In a foul-mouthed rant, the TV star said, “Sir, you attract more skinheads than free Rogaine. You have more people marching against you than cancer. You talk like a sign language gorilla that got hit in the head. In fact, the only thing your mouth is good for is being Vladimir Putin’s c—k holster.” he continued.
Later in the week, the 53-year-old offered an unapologetic explanation of the whole controversy and responded to calls for him to be relieved of his duties at CBS. In his words, “Now, if you saw my monologue Monday, you know that I was a little upset at Donald Trump for insulting a friend of mine,” a reference to President Donald Trump’s decision to abruptly halt an interview with his colleague and “Face the Nation” host John Dickerson.
He went on to comment about a line in the monologue that many have tagged, homophobic, by saying “I would change a few words that were cruder than they needed to be. I’m not going to repeat the phrase, but I just want to say for the record, life is short, and anyone who expresses their love for another person, in their own way, is to me an American hero. I think we can all agree on that.”
“So at the end of that monologue, I had a few choice insults for the president in return. I don’t regret that. He, I believe, can take care of himself. I have jokes; he has the launch codes. So, it’s a fair fight”, he continued.