Late-night host Stephen Colbert finds himself on the hot seat, as the FCC has announced that it is looking into whether an on-air comment he made while ranting against President Donald Trump this week is in violation of the law.
Colbert has been heavily criticized for the homophobic nature of one line in the opening monologue he made last Monday [May 1], with the Twitter community having launched the hashtag #FireColbert in the days since. “The only thing [Trump’s] mouth is good for is being Vladimir Putin’s c**k holster," was the remark that sparked the controversy. There have also been calls to boycott The Late Show sponsors.
Colbert would address the backlash two episodes later, stating, "while I would do it again, 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. I hope even the president and I can agree on that. Nothing else. But, that.”
FCC chairman Ajit Pai promised listeners on Philadelphia's Talk Radio 1210 WPHT that he is on the case, and informed that the repercussion would likely be a fine should the agency find any wrongdoing. “I have had a chance to see the clip now and so, as we get complaints — and we’ve gotten a number of them — 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,” he said.
Source: variety.com
