#cbs

#cbs

"He [Talarico] was supposed to be here, but 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," Colbert says. "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."

JIM ACOSTA: Trump does have, he's had propaganda outlets work on his behalf for some time, but we've seen even among the major networks, CBS for example, which has been taken over by some pretty far right individuals and the Ellisons and Barry Weiss and so on. I mean, they had their anchor on the other night, sort of both-sidesing what took place on January 6th. I wanna play this and just get your take on that.

Last month, federal regulators approved the long-anticipated merger of Skydance Media and Paramount Global, positioning David Ellison the founder of Skydance and the son of megabillionaire Larry Ellison as one of the most powerful figures in US media. Paramount Skydance Corporation, as it is now officially known, is one of a small handful of American media conglomerates, with Paramount Pictures, cable networks such as Comedy Central and MTV, and CBS all under its umbrella.

During the rally, demonstrators delivered 10 boxes filled with Save Colbert petitions to the company, and more than 250,000 people have signed. Among supporters are lawmakers, comedians, and producers.

Trump has suggested that his $16 million settlement is worth twice as much as the publicly reported amount, indicating that the actual figure could be as high as $35 million.

Public figures have taught us that misguided mission can do more harm than brute force. We pride ourselves on our BS detector, so it ought to work on ourselves, too.