the DON JONES INDEX…
	GAINS POSTED in GREEN LOSSES POSTED in RED 5/15/26… 15,584.58 5/8/26… 15,609.03 6/27/13... 15,000.00
(THE DOW JONES INDEX: 5/15 50,009.97... 5/8/26... 49,596.97; 6/27/13… 15,000.00)

LESSON for FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2026 – “IRANIANS, UKRAINIANS, COMEDIANS!”

As the Justice Department’s strange indictment of former FBI Chair James Comey proceeds on the grounds that his posting of a photo of seashells spelling “86 47” constitutes a terroristic threat against President Trump, other bureaucracies answerable to the White House are climbing aboard his train of retaliation and revenge against enemies in Congress, in the media, culture, business and in the streets.

As last week’s lesson noted, in a filch from the New York Times: “The Justice Department has secured a new indictment of James Comey, the former F.B.I. director, over a photograph of seashells on a North Carolina beach. It comes after a past indictment effort spurred by President Trump last year ended in failure.” (ATTACHMENT ONE)

And, from FBI director Kash, himself... (ATTACHMENT TWO) “(e)very single investigation this FBI and our partners at the Department of Justice undertake, especially those that involve the threats to harm or hurt or even kill individuals, whether they hold public office or civilians in our country, are met with the same measure of investigative prowess and tools and personnel and partnership with the Department of Justice as anyone else.

“As the U.S. attorney indicated, James Comey (was) afforded every matter of due process under the United States Constitution... and (a) grand jury returned a two-count indictment against James Comey. James Comey allegedly threatened the life of the president of the United States.”

With a photograph of seashells.

“Just as the Biden administration seemed desperate to silence people for speaking their minds, so the Trump administration will do precisely the opposite,” an un-threatened but hopeful Veep Vance said in Germany in February. (CNN, April 29, ATTACHMENT THREE)

The day before, said CNN’s Aaron Blake, “we learned that the Federal Communications Commission was taking the remarkable step of challenging ABC’s station licenses – as Trump once again is calling for the network to punish talk show host Jimmy Kimmel for a joke. Soon after, we learned the administration had secured an indictment against former FBI Director James Comey for conduct that, much like Kimmel’s joke, appears very likely to be constitutionally protected speech.”

In Kimmel’s case, the FCC ordered the review of the station licenses, “which it claimed is tied to a probe into parent company Disney’s diversity practices,” after the comedian (who had previously mused upon contentions that conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassin was a MAGA supporter) told a joke about how first lady Melania Trump had the “glow of an expectant widow,” which took on a different aura after a gunman was arrested at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

CNN then ventured that convicting Comey or revoking ABC’s licenses probably isn’t the point. “There’s also plenty to be said for inconveniencing people you don’t like and sending a message to others who might do you wrong.”

Federal prosecutors, previously in Trump 2.0 were reported to have sought indictments of six Democratic Congressdonkeys (including astronaut and Arizona Senator Mark Kelly) for telling members of military not to obey illegal orders and AyGee Bondi was, herself, purged for a less-than-satisfactory enthusiasm for the President’s campaign of revenge and retaliation.

So, while Justice has been cracking seashells over Comey, comedians have been addressed by the Federal Communications Commission... arbiter of decency and justice in broadcast media since 1934

The Los Angeles Times (May 5, ATTACHMENT FOUR) wrote that F.C.C. Commission Chair Brendan Carr is calling for a review of Walt Disney’s eight ABC stations, alleging that Disney’s diversity, equity and inclusion policies may have violated federal anti-discrimination rules.

But Joes-in-the-Know believe that the real reason for the investigations is First Lady Melania Trump’s call for the firing of ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel over his April 23 comedy bit on the White House correspondents’ dinner. A tuxedo-clad Kimmel called Melania Trump “beautiful,” saying she had “the glow of an expectant widow” and then, two days later, a wannabee assassin assailed the dinner - Kimmel’s gag becoming “ammunition for right-wing commentators, who claim the left is stoking political violence.”

Kimmel denied it was a call for violence and said the joke “was about the age difference between the 79-year-old president and his wife.”

Carr insisted at a Washington news conference last week that his demand for a review was not related to Kimmel’s remarks. “Experts” believe Carr is acting on ABC at the behest of Trump, “as the chairman has often expressed support on social media whenever the president criticizes one of the broadcast TV news outlets.”

LAT reviewed several past FCC license challenges but, although there have been successful civil suits, the last revocation (RKO’s Los Angeles outlet KHF) was back in 1987... not related to “broadcast content on the stations.”

Going further back, “at the height of the Watergate scandal in the 1970s, Richard Nixon’s allies unsuccessfully attempted to challenge the TV licenses of three stations then owned by the Washington Post.”

Back in February, LAT also reported that Colbert had rassled with CBS over his interview with Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico of Texas, which was pulled rather than affording equal time to his more liberal opponent. (ATTACHMENT FIVE)

Last fall, Carr warned ABC that it could lose its TV station licenses “after Kimmel made remarks on his program about slain right-wing activist Charlie Kirk that upset conservatives. Two major TV station groups pulled the program and the network suspended Kimmel‘s program for a week.”

Andrew Jay Schwartzman, a public interest communications attorney, said Carr was using his bully pulpit at the FCC to intimidate “a timorous broadcasting industry.”

“It’s just all bluster,” said Schwartzman. “Broadcasters are more interested in short-term regulatory relief from the FCC, and in the case of [CBS parent] Paramount, getting approval of a possible Warner Bros. Discovery deal.”

CBS cited financial losses as the reason for its cancellation of Colbert’s “Late Show,” which ends next Thursday — “a decision that came just two months before CBS parent Paramount Global closed its merger deal with Skydance Media, which required regulatory approval from the Trump administration.”

They allegedly wanted Colbert to steer clear of Talarico because the FCC previously announced it was “investigating” ABC over the candidate’s appearance on “The View,” according to a network executive not authorized to discuss the matter publicly (but who did, with LAT). Talarico was on the daytime talk show Feb. 2, which led to the FCC launching an “enforcement action” on the matter. (See below)

(Colbert, instead, chose to put his sit-down with the Texas state legislator on YouTube, which is not regulated by the FCC.)

More recently, after a history of compliance, complicity and capitulation, earned ABC and its single parent Disney nothing but further assaults, the network finally got off its knees, stood up, wiped the stains from its face and backside and finally accused the government of violating the First Amendment in its strange campaign against “The View” for hosting a Congressional candidate without equal time for his even more liberal challenger – saying that the Mighty Mouse had taken “the most aggressive posture taken yet by a television network toward the Trump administration.” (New York Times, May 8^th, ATTACHMENT SIX)

New York Magazine also weighed the FCC’s accusation that the View’s interview with Texas candidate James Talarico violated the largely ineffectual equal time provisions by failing to qualify for the “bona fide news exemption” releasing the show from obligations to offer equal time to Talarico’s challenger, the hard-left Rep. Jasmine Crockett.

Critics interviewed by the Magazine’s Nia Prater (ATTACHMENT SEVEN) accused the FCC of hypocrisy in greenlighting exemptions for appearances by Texas Republican candidates on radio programs like “The Mark Levin Show” or “The Glenn Beck Program,” saying that such a disparity “raises serious concerns about viewpoint discrimination and retaliatory targeting.”

ABC’s 52-page filing, signed by former U.S. solicitor general Paul Clement comes after the White House renewed its push for the ouster of Kimmel and intimidated the newly MAGA CBS into yanking Talarico from the Colbert show (which interview was was posted online instead, and amassed a “seismic number” of views).

The Guardian U.K. cited the response by KTRK-TV, a Houston-based local television station owned by ABC, to FCC chair Brendan Carr’s opening an “enforcement action” over the Talarico matter. (May 8^th, ATTACHMENT EIGHT)

Whereas the “fairness doctrine”, until its repeal in 1987, had been considered a left-wing check against the highly financed candidates and ballot measures (spawned by the Citizens United moneyflooding legislation), the present Clement “equal time” filing states: “While candidates are always able to connect with voters on cable, podcasts, and social media, specifically requiring broadcast airtime for all qualified candidates does not expand speech; rather, it makes coverage infeasible, which ultimately reduces it.”

The filing accuses the FCC of persecuting ABC and The View for liberalism – the station counters that conservatives like Vance and Rubio refuse to appear and denies bias.

GUK consulted Anna M Gomez, the lone Democrat-appointed FCC commissioner, who praised ABC’s response to the equal-time investigation in a post on X. “The days of the FCC as a paper tiger are numbered,” she wrote. “What the public will remember is who complied in advance and who fought back. I’m glad Disney is choosing courage over capitulation.”

GUK’s liberal British rival, IUK also reported on the ABC pushback against the FCC on “The View” and Kimmel. (ATTACHMENT NINE)

In a statement to The Independent, Seth Stern of the Freedom of the Press Foundation said: “We commend ABC for standing up for itself and the First Amendment. The legal theories the FCC asserts against broadcast licensees are frivolous and unconstitutional, and FCC Chair Brendan Carr knows it, but he hopes broadcast licensees will nonetheless self-censor rather than pick a fight.”

Similarly, Jessica J. González of advocacy group Free Press said: “I’m pleased that ABC has finally learned that bullies don’t stop when companies cower in a corner,” calling Carr’s overreach is startling and unpopular across the political spectrum – even including conservatives like Ted Cruz.

Gomez’ letter to Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro contended, according to the New Republic (ATTACHMENT TEN) that the FCC’s recent attacks on ABC, Kimmel, The View and others going back to the 2024 debates between Trump and Kamala Harris were “not a series of coincidental regulatory actions,” and that ABC/Disney’s craven $16M settlement on E. Jean Carroll “did not buy you peace... for the right price, you can only borrow it. And the price always goes up.”

Yahoo also received and reported upon Gomez’ letter – citing the line Disney executives “should probably tape to the conference room wall: ‘You are not the first target of this campaign, and you will not be the last."

The first target. The not-last target. Colbert. Kimmel. The pattern that Gomez (“a sitting government commissioner”) is now describing in writing, after Trump’s July, 2025 gloatings over Colbert’s firing “with Kimmel next.” (ATTACHMENT ELEVEN)

Carr, a co-author of the far-right playbook Project 2025, has hardly hidden his support for this kind of politicized pressure campaign. As examples of “winning” the president’s war against the press, he recently boasted about the defunding of PBS and the purchase of CBS by a Trump ally, as well as the departures of some high-profile journalists targeted by Trump.

When Colbert returned to his show after Trump celebrated the cancellation on Truth Social, he addressed the president directly.

"How dare you, sir," Colbert said during his monologue. Then he offered a more compact review of Trump's post: "Go f*** yourself."

His final show airs May 21.

The Guardian, three hours before Brendan Carr’s confirmation of the View vendetta (May 8^th, ATTACHMENT TWELVE) considered the war’s effect upon the supply chain, and the comedians’ take on the war... for example, Colbert’s wondering whether a warning by the McDonald’s CEO that it might affect the burger chain and inspiring him to consider: “Perhaps this will finally show Trump the true cost of war,” before joking that without peace, he “could lose his 10-piece”.

And as the administration continues to find new words to call the war, with Trump this week calling it a “skirmish”. Colbert joked that “my uncle never came home from the Korean hullaballoo”.

The President’s cabinet of curiosities also came under fire; after Pope Leo gave SecState Marco Rubio a pen made from olive wood to represent peace, Marco replied with a small crystal football. “I smell regift!” Colbert said and, after the FBI announced a quest to find who leaked allegations about Kash Patel’s drinking problem and signature bourbon bottles to the Atlantic magazine, the comedian added that, after a few beers, Patel also said: “Yo, I gotta go take a criminal leak.”

MAGAnaut Sen. John (ask not why, just don’t) Kennedy (R-La) responded with a chunk of conservative comedy, suggesting on the “Will (cuttin’) Cain Show” that, after Barack Obama sat down for Colbert, the pair “should get a motel room" – accusing Obama of “pandering” the cancelled comic to johns unknown and sampling his... uh... merchandise... (Fox, May 7^th, ATTACHMENT THIRTEEN)

“They were just fawning all over each other. I don't have anything against Mr. Colbert. I've always thought that he was shallow as a puddle,” opined JNK... adding that his numbers were losing CBS $40 million yearly because nobody was watching his junk. “So CBS told him to sit his 50-set a-- down, and they said, well, 'You're fired,'" Kennedy added.

The Fox also said Colbert’s final show would be tonight – inducing conspiracy theorists to declaim disinfo aimed at the comic’s disciples.

The New York Times tossed up weightier words from Jason Zinoman (May 5, 10:39 AM, ATTACHMENT FOURTEEN) asking: “What do we lose when ‘the late show’ goes away?” and tracking the “procession of celebrities getting a little sincere and paying tribute through sad songs and art projects.”

Defying the Fox by declaiming the last show would be Thursday next, Zino phobed that Joneses all across America (and foreign places, too) would be losing “an institution” (like the similarly deadlined Alligator Alcatraz?) and exclaimed: “believe it or not, (Colbert( will have been on the air longer than the Carson version of “The Tonight Show.”

Asked about the decline of late-night shows, the former host Arsenio Hall told the other Z-Man (as opposed to Mamdani and Guy Williams) that things always change, and that “he’d prefer “The Tonight Show” be canceled than fade into irrelevance.” When Conan O’Brien quit that NBC show in 2010 over a network push to move its time slot, arguing that it was better to leave than “damage” the franchise, “Jerry Seinfeld poked fun at the idea of a late-night tradition. “How do you not get that this whole thing is phony?” Seinfeld told the journalist Bill Carter, adding that talk shows were about the hosts, nothing more. “There’s no institution to offend.”

On the Times’ long strol down memory lane, they found where the beef had been... a duel between up-and-comers David Letterman and Jay Leno, both of whom “badly wanted to succeed Carson as host of “The Tonight Show.” And when Leno got the job, “Letterman left his program, which aired at 12:30 a.m. after “The Tonight Show” on NBC, signed a huge contract and decamped for CBS to create what we now consider an institution, one that competed directly against Leno.

“It was the talk-show equivalent,” Zinoman reminisced, “of an 18th-century gentleman peeling off his glove and throwing it at the feet of his rival.”

Further, he zisplayed his prejudices by adding: “For a certain class of callow comedy aficionados,” (read Republicans, if you will) “Leno represented a meat-and-potatoes mainstream standup and the bland establishment, while Letterman carried an irreverent aesthete appeal, an ironist who delighted in formal experimentation, mocking his bosses and the conventions of the talk show.”

(DJI interval: our Managing Editor was a dedicated follower of Jay and sent him Headlines... Leno even read the one about a country boy using dead squirrels in place of cold hard cash on air and sent back an autographed photo)

“STEPHEN COLBERT IS a very different performer from Letterman,” the Gothamites testify, but “when he got the job as Letterman’s successor at “The Late Show,” it represented a kind of continuity. He also inspired comedy-nerd passion, “stood out as a performer with ambition” (surprise!) and, like Letterman, “reinvented a form by mastering the art of saying the opposite of what he meant” as opposed to the “light” Leno-esque Jimmy Fallon... despite Zinoman’s contention that other programs produced by NBC’s Yoda-esque Lorne Michaels (see details on Lorne documentary here) “haven’t even appeared to buckle to political pressure unlike the programs on ABC and CBS.”

The Times made no mention of Kimmel’s status in “moving fast and breaking things” other than a cryptic comment that “institutions are much easier to destroy than build” but – given the “low-risk, low-reward” and “leashed” Byron Allen substitute – it’s now clear that, as to 11:30 PM nightcap on Monday’s through Thursdays, the CBS theme song might well “I Think We’re Alone, Now”.

For as long as that lasts.

One minute earlier, (May 5, 10:38 AM, ATTACHMENT FIFTEEN), Zino and the Great, Gray Lady published an interview with predecessor Letterman who responded to the first notice of Colbert’s cancellation with one word...

“Disbelief!”

Adding that the hit “seemed like a botched holdup,” Letterman then got the facts about the Ellison family [David Ellison, with backing from his father, Larry, bought CBS’s parent company, Paramount Global], and said he “took great delight in referring to the principal as the Ellison Twins. I was later corrected and told it’s just one guy. I didn’t care and I still refer to him as twins. There’s also the old man, Larry. Is it in fact Larry?

Yes. (Note: DJI considered Larry Ellison the most evil person in America... worse than Donald Trump (or Barack Obama, if you will), Jeffrey Epstein or the Covid and Hantavirus plagues combined) even before he bought out CBS for the reason that his surveillance and jobvetting Taleo managed to be both sloppy and totalitarian – the both)

As best as Letterman says he understands it, the old man invented the Slinky. “And the Ellison twins are willy-nilly spending the old man’s money. So that was what ran through my head. Then I wondered: What the hell have they done to Stephen [Colbert]? And I would say farther down on the list is your point: Wait a minute, this used to be my show. It’s like driving by your old neighborhood and realizing that where you used to live, they’re putting up an adult bookstore.”

“All of television seems to have been nicked by digital communication and streaming platforms and on and on,” says grump old Letterman. “TV may be not the money machine it once was. On the other hand, what about the humanity for Stephen and the humanity of people who love him and the humanity for people who still enjoyed that 11:30 respite?”

Well, they’ll have to go to Kimmel – but first, USA Today’s Taylor Ardrey (May 11, 11:08 AM, ATTACHMENT SIXTEEN) asked and answered some questions about the final Late Show.

The last show? (Next Thursday, not tonight) The replacement? (Byron Allen’s “Comics Unleashed” – see below) How Colbert feels about the death of the format? ("It's none of my business.")

The cancelled man also told U.S.A. (via the Hollywood Reporter, below) that Allen became the youngest comic to perform on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" when he was 18. Four days earlier, he’d also told USAT’s Brendan Morrow (ATTACHMENT SEVENTEEN) that he wished his successor all the best, his intention to devote his time to a “Lord of the Rings” series and that the guest he most wants for his final show is Leo XIV

"The pope is my white whale," he said.

On the night of that last show, Rolling Stone reports that Jimmy Kimmel Live! will air a rerun next Thursday, May 21, reportedly out of respect Colbert. Kimmel confirmed the decision to Late Nighter, going dark in the live realm for the night, and leaving Colbert’s only competition the “Tonight Show” starring Jimmy Fallon.  (May 11, ATTACHMENT EIGHTEEN)

At one point, Colbert asked Kimmel if his younger self could have imagined the President of the United States “celebrating” his brief unemployment. 

“No, I never imagined that we’d ever have a president like this, and I hope we don’t ever have another president like this again,” Kimmel replied. “I never even imagined there would ever be a situation in which the president of our country was celebrating hundreds of Americans losing their jobs. But somebody who took pleasure in that — that to me is the absolute opposite of what a leader of this country is supposed to be.”

Well, at least Colbert got off better than Robert Mueller.

The first installment of the Hollywood Reporter’s two full Colbert exit interviews (May 6^th, ATTACHMENT NINETEEN) included his views on the cancellation that shocked the industry, the win of going out as a “martyr” and his next act in Middle-earth.

In the 10 months since, Colbert has not held back, “regularly jabbing his network, its new owners’ cozy relationship with the president and reports that his show was hemorrhaging $40 million a year. Being able to be brutally honest about all of it was part of the arrangement he made with his bosses last summer. He has also continued to mercilessly critique Trump on a nightly basis.

“If there is a silver lining to Colbert’s unexpected ouster, it’s that he is now able to be intimately involved in co-writing an installment of the Lord of the Rings film franchise. The project is already six years in the making and a lifelong dream for the self-proclaimed superfan. And though he isn’t ready to sign on to any other projects just yet, he began fielding scripts immediately after he announced his Late Show chapter would conclude. He says he could see “creating another show,” too, and that his desire to perform will always be there.”

And his Days After. First up, family affairs. Then, he hopes, a voyage to the Shire for a Lord of the Rings remake.

CORRELATION IS NOT CAUSALITY

“Me being canceled reinforced a narrative that CBS already had a nimbus of knee-bending that they had created around themselves,” Colbert recalled, “because even their lawyers said there was no reason to cut the check, and then they did and gave no rationale for why they changed their minds, and then suddenly they got their broadcast license.

“Causality is not the same thing as correlation, and I understand that — and not just because I learned it from the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, which reminded us that, yes, you smoked and you got cancer, but, you know, correlation is not causality. So,” Colbert said, “maybe my cancellation was just a naturally occurring tumor that just had to be cut out of the corporation.”

As with Byron Allen, he chose prudence in his estimation of David Ellison (if not his father)... citing “friends” who told him that David actually cares about making stuff and he wants the talent to be happy.” vendettas just sound exhausting, and I have no reason to have one. We’re all big boys. I got to do this for 21 years. What is there to complain about, really? I knew that the show had to end at some time. I did not expect it to end this way. But my staff are the only people I’m worried about.

To the contention by HR’s Lacey Rose that: “You also get to go out as a kind of martyr,” he replied: “Hey, there’s only room for one person on this cross, buddy!”

As for Leo, Colbert promised they wouldn’t talk politics in the April interview, and then the Pope and Trump blew up over the war.

“How worried are you about the future of the genre?” Rose asked; Colbery answered: “I don’t know what it’s going to be, and I don’t know what I can do to help other than what I did the last 11 years. But one night I’ll turn on the TV and probably no one will be there.”

Saying he wanted “Late Night” to be remembered as a comedy show, the host said that “(w)e harvest laughter for a living, and ultimately that’s the thing I want more than anything else. I just want to make the audience laugh.”

Julie Hinds of the Detroit Free Press listed the Late Show guests for this week (ATTACHMENT TWENTY) including four of his competitors - NBC’s Jimmy Fallon, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel, NBC’s Seth Meyers and HBO’s John Oliver - on Monday, May 11.

It was a reunion for the quintet, “which teamed up in 2023 for a podcast called “Strike Force Five” that helped raise funds for their respective crew members during the Writers Guild and SAG-AFTRA strikes.”

BREAKING NEWS: “The Tuesday, May 19 episode will feature interviews with Steven Spielberg and Colbert’s Daily Show cohort Jon Stewart, as well as a performance by David Byrne with Colbert. The Wednesday, May 20 episode will include a performance by Bruce Springsteen as well as appearances by special guests, with Colbert also answering his own “The Colbert Questionert” for the first (and last) time.” (Rolling Stone, ATTACHMENT TWENTY ONE)

Details of the series finale on Thursday, May 21 have not yet been revealed. “The Monday, May 18 episode is currently guest-less, with Colbert opting to revisit “The Worst” of The Late Show, although the episode is “not a clip show!”

MYERS

Strike forcer Seth ... safe and secure (for the time being) at the NBCUniversal upfront at Radio City Music Hall on Monday morning with plenty of jabs at his bosses. But perhaps his most cutting jokes were reserved for rival CBS and its Paramount Skydance owners.

“CBS did not hold an upfront presentation this year because at CBS, upfront just describes how they paid Trump to drop the lawsuit,” he opened his seven-minute stand-up set at the NBCUpfront presentation to ad buyers Monday morning, “alluding to the agency putting its thumb on the scale this past year to rid the late-night landscape of two of Donald Trump’s other late-night critics, Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert.”

(An AI overview said that CBS did hold an entertainment-less upfront back on Tax Day, April 15^th... announcing programming changes while remaining “focused on stable, established franchises.”)

As Networks and Streamers Head to the Upfronts, They Have Plenty to Tout — And Just As Many Needs

Well, partisans are partisans... be they in government or business.

Performing for his partisan pals, Meyers opened his routine by introducing himself: “I’m Seth Meyers — or as the FCC calls me, ‘next.'”

He noted that NBC was the No. 1 broadcast television network for the 2025 – 2026 season: “After over a decade, we have taken down CBS. Well, the Ellisons did, but I like to think we helped.”

Blasting off a barrage of jokes (Variety, ATTACHMENT TWENTY TWO), Myers... like Colbert and Letterman (above)... honed in on the Ellison clan, saying: “They’re so in the pocket for Trump that I heard next year ‘Survivor’ is in the Strait of Hormuz!”

He also pointed out that, unlike NBCU’s flashy two-hour presentation at Radio City Music Hall, Paramount opted for a much quieter presence with advertisers. The company hosted several smaller presentations across the country, including in L.A. and New York City, as well as a few intimate dinners with clients and talent. (Deadline, May 11^th, ATTACHMENT TWENTY THREE)

“CBS did not hold an upfront presentation this year because ‘CBS up front’ just describes how they paid Trump to drop the lawsuit,” he joked.

His repertoire proceeded to shows like Love Island (or, on Telemundo: “Los Diablos del Herpes”), USA, Yellowstone and Law & Order SVU (Myers hinting its next new cast member will be Prince Andrew), reality-based stars like Kevin Hart, Taylor Sheridan and Dick Wolf and other companies like Comcast, Netflix (which, said Seth, “is hosting its upfronts this year on the Hudson River, because once a Netflix show hits two seasons, that’s where they dump its body”) and an eventual joint streaming service that would combine Paramount+ and HBO Max.

Recounting NBC’s “fine showing” this past TV season, Meyers said, “NBC had it all—the Olympics, the Super Bowl…. The more you think about it, the more it breaks your heart that we’re up here selling next year,” Latenighter added (ATTACHMENT TWENTY FOUR).

And regarding Saturday Night Live UK, which streams on Peacock and was just renewed for a second season, Meyers said: “I’m just jealous that they can actually swear on their version, because I always wanted my sign-off to be, ‘For Weekend Update, I’m Seth f*cking Meyers, assholes.'”

Jimmy Kimmel traditionally performs a similar, roast-style set at ABC’s upfront—and continued that tradition Tuesday afternoon.

On Kimmel Live!, the host also spoke about Rubio’s meeting at the Vatican “to patch up the off-again/off-again relationship” between Trump and the pope. (Attachment Twelve, above)

The president couldn’t go himself as when he enters a church “all the holy water starts to boil”.

Kimmel joked that the “pope mistook little Marco for a child and baptised him”.

He also spoke about the war in Iran that is not nearing an end, with Iran firing on American warships this week, something Trump called “a love tap”. He is “quite clearly anxious to manage expectations on this thing” and this week posted a strange chart that showed how the Iran war is so much shorter than other conflicts.

“I bet that’s not the only chart that shows his is the shortest,” Kimmel said.

He also spoke about the new Kash Patel story in the Atlantic revealing that the FBI director hands out personalised whiskey bottles as gifts. Kimmel said they were “short and filled with alcohol just like Kash himself”.

Kimmel also reminded viewers of “the Trump-Epstein files”, as he calls them, and that the Iran war was “cooked up to knock that out of the headlines”.

After a tuxedo-clad Kimmel called Melania Trump “beautiful,” saying she had “the glow of an expectant widow” on April 23^rd – two days before a man armed with a shotgun, handgun and several knives breached security at the White House correspondents’ dinner – FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced an early review of Disney’s eight ABC TV station licenses, citing concerns about the company’s diversity and inclusion policies — two years ahead of schedule. (Los Angeles Times, May fifth, ATTACHMENT TWENTY FIVE)

“The investigation into Disney’s practices began in March 2025, part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to reverse DEI initiatives across private companies, federal agencies, universities and other organizations,” wrote the Times’ Stephen Battaglio.

“After the 2020 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, which spurred the Black Lives Matter movement, companies such as Disney and NBC-owned Comcast aggressively promoted their diversity efforts.

“But experts believe Carr is acting on ABC at the behest of Trump, as the chairman has often expressed support on social media whenever the president criticizes one of the broadcast TV news outlets.”

Kimmel’s gag became ammunition for right-wing commentators, who claim the left is stoking political violence.

The host said the joke was about the age difference between the 79-year-old president and his wife. Kimmel denied it was a call for violence and has continued to mock the president on his show.

The Times reported that the most notable recent example of license challenging was Fox Corp.’s Philadelphia station WTXF, which was up for a license renewal in October 2023. “Activist groups filing the challenge said Fox was unfit to own the outlet after a judge ruled earlier that year that the company’s Fox News Channel had spread falsehoods about voter fraud in the 2020 election.

The FCC rejected the renewal challenge in January 2025, noting that none of the false information on Fox News was heard on the Philadelphia station.”

In a different article, Fox was reported to have paid $787 million to settle a defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems that alleged the cable news channel damaged the company’s reputation.

WTXF was not cited in Dominion’s lawsuit.

“RKO General, a unit of the General Tire and Rubber Co., was the last company to lose broadcast TV station licenses in 1987, including Los Angeles outlet KHJ. The case was related to corporate malfeasance and not broadcast content on the stations”; Richard Nixon’s allies unsuccessfully attempted to challenge the TV licenses of three stations then owned by the Washington Post at the height of the Watergate scandal in the 1970s.”

Time (April 28, ATTACHMENT TWENTY SIX) reported that the First Lady had claimed on social media that Kimmel’s “hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country” and that “his monologue about my family isn’t comedy.” The President also chimed in, referencing Kimmel’s “expectant widow” joke and claiming that it was “far beyond the pale.”

Kimmel defended himself on Monday night’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, saying that his remark was not a call for violence but rather “obviously was a joke about their age difference and the look of joy we see on her face every time they’re together.”

Kimmel continued: “It was a very light roast joke about the fact that he’s almost 80, and she’s younger than I am. It was not, by any stretch of the definition, a call to assassination, and they know that.”

And, the Kimmel monologue of a week ago yesterday portrayed SecState Marco Rubio’s meeting with Pope Leo as awkward and embarrassing (the Daily Beast, ATTACHMENT TWENTY SEVEN) as opposed to the Vatican’s statement describing the pope’s meeting with Rubio as “cordial.”

“Kimmel zeroed in on Rubio’s stiff body language during his Vatican meeting. He showed a clip where Rubio awkwardly shook hands with the pontiff, then posed for a picture with him,” wrote Beastly Michael Boyle, who added that the American-born pope “managed a small smile for the photo, while Rubio stared blankly ahead.”

Zeroing in on Rubio’s expression, Kimmel joked further, “If that’s not a penance face, I’ve never seen a penance face.”

Earlier in the week, Trump falsely characterized the pope as “wanting Iran to have a nuclear weapon”, and accused the pope of “endangering a lot of Catholics” with his anti-war rhetoric.

The Vatican’s statement post-Marco declared: “The shared commitment to fostering sound bilateral relations between the Holy See and the United States of America was reaffirmed.”

Another can on the President’s fencepost wasOn his “Real Time” comic Bill Maher who, on his Mayday monologue, quipped that the Trump administration was “going a little crazy” with its second indictment of former FBI Director James Comey over an alleged threat to President Trump’s life. (The Hill, ATTACHMENT TWENTY EIGHT)

“The Justice Department is trying to put former head of the FBI, James Comey, in jail for posting sea shells,” the comedian said. “Why? Because the sea shells spelled out ’86 47.’ He’s the Manchurian beachcomber.”

This... plus the fact that Fox highlighted the program (on whichMaher conducted an admittedly soft shoe interview of California Governor and potential 2028 Presidential candidate Gavin Newsome) so enraged the American President that Trump responded in a lengthy Truth Social post on Saturday.

“I hate seeing Fox, and other Conservative Outlets, constantly making Low Rated Bill Maher ‘relevant’ as it pertains to the Republican Party, and beyond,” Trump wrote. “Fox should stop putting this person on. He’s not representing us. You look weak, stupid, and ineffective, and I hate seeing that.”

While confirming that he will receive the Mark Twain Prize for Humor at the Kennedy Center, Maher said he hopes President Trump attends the event. There was some confusion regarding Maher's selection for the honor. He has been a vocal critic of President Trump, who now holds significant influence over Kennedy Center operations.

So perhaps Maher should tread carefully if he does choose to respond,” the Hill ventured. “Angering President Trump could cost Maher a major career accomplishment and see the Mark Twain Prize go to someone else. Then again, maybe the comedian would appreciate the attention that would follow such a fiasco. If nothing else, Maher shouldn't expect to receive another White House dinner invitation anytime soon.”

Trump has also taken aim at the View, demanding that He be the arbiter of who can and cannot appear on the show and, as in Attachments Six, Seven and Eight, above, has portrayed himself as a reform liberal fighting off a corrupt media machine by standing up for lesser funded political candidates against the well-donored... in the instance case, advocating for far left Jasmine Crockett, running for the Democratic nomination for Texas’ Congressional delegation against James Talerico.

But Disney, who knelt and cried and paid out in prior Trump offensives, appears to have found a spine... pushing back against the government’s attempt to regulate which guests can appear on "The View," calling those efforts "unprecedented" and a threat to free speech, according to Peter Kafka of Business Insider (ATTACHMENT TWENTY NINE).

“To be clear: This isn't a case of Disney, or new CEO Josh D'Amaro, challenging Trump to a duel”, Mister Kafka pointed out. But it does seem to be a calculated call by D'Amaro: his metamorphosis has been a will “to push back, politely but firmly, against Trump's demands.

“And that's a meaningful change from the message Disney sent in the first part of Trump's second term.

In the fall of 2024 — after Trump's reelection but before he'd been inaugurated — mousy Bob Iger settled a defamation suit many experts thought he would easily win, “agreeing to a $15 million payout to Trump (via his planned presidential library) in the civil case brought by E. Jean Carroll. And in the fall of 2025, Disney took Kimmel off the air after Carr complained about another Trump joke the host had told.”

But the language of the filing, which uses phrases like "chill critical protected speech," and "the danger is that the government will simply decide which perspectives to regulate and which to leave undisturbed," makes it clear that Disney isn't just making a narrow technocratic argument with Trump's FCC, but a big, thematic one.

Kafka called the fact that Disney is using Paul Clement, a well-known conservative attorney who worked in the George W Bush White House and has argued dozens of cases in the Supreme Court, sends another message: “We're willing to fight this for a long time, with heavy-duty firepower.”

"What Disney and ABC are facing is not a series of coincidental regulatory actions but a sustained, coordinated campaign of censorship and control, carried out through the weaponization of the FCC's authority as a federal regulator and aimed at pressuring a free and independent press and all media into submission," FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez wrote in a letter to Disney CEO Josh D'Amaro. (Reuters, May 11, ATTACHMENT THIRTY)

“In February, the FCC said it was probing whether "The View" violated equal time rules for interviews with political candidates, after an appearance by Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico. The FCC said TV talk shows are no longer considered "bona fide" news programs that are exempt from the rules.”

And in the matter of the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Trump-friendly New York Post charged that the organization had and still has been using its donation cashbox to hire “informants” to infiltrate or, in some cases, join far-right, racist and neo-Nazi gangs ranging from the violent (like the Birmingham church bombers) to the venerable (the Ku Klux Klans and create incidents “in order to solicit money from frightened donors.”

The Alabama-based SPLC has been charged with wire fraud, bank fraud and money laundering conspiracy for allegedly engaging “in the active promotion of racist groups at the same time that the SPLC was denouncing the same groups on its website,” acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel announced on April 21. (April 27^th, ATTACHMENT THIRTY ONE)

Patel charged that far from using spies to dismantle the hate groups, the SPLC gave them over $3 million to keep promoting their ideologies, so they would have something to point to and seek donors to fight against. The nonprofit has amassed some $800 million to do so, its charity forms show.

“The SPLC was … manufacturing the extremism it purports to oppose by paying sources to stoke racial hatred,” Blanche said at a press conference.

The SPLC also had a “field source” who was a member of the online leadership chat group that planned the deadly 2017 “Unite the Right” event in Charlottesville, Va., the indictment alleges.

The Charlottesville event, which turned deadly after opposing groups of demonstrators clashed, was a major fundraising milestone for the SPLC.

Some of these infiltrators/informants/provocateurs included a one-legged Imperial Wizard ‘true believer’ whose son reported his meetings with the FBI to the Post, a cleaning lady known as “F-unknown,” and believed to be a suburban Georgia mom named April Chambers who – with her Exalted Cyclops husband – sued the state over their refusal to let the Klan join its “Adopt-A-Highway” program and pick up litter and another F-30, who matches the description of Paul Mullet, a leader of the National Socialist Party of America secretly paid $70,000 a decade ago, according to the DoJ.

“Many in the neo-Nazi community remain unfazed by the news.”

“I’m not shocked at all about it, they’ve done that sort of thing before. They’ve been after me for years,” Jeff Schoep, the former head of the NSM who left in 2019 and has since become a reformed Nazi, preaching about the dangers of extremism, told The Post.

But some competitors on their far-right websites are “quietly gloating” as the nonprofit heads to federal court.

“They use pain and suffering to raise money,” Gavin McInnes, founder of the pro-Trump men’s group The Proud Boys — a frequent SPLC target — told The Post.

“We’ll never know if we have a Nazi problem because they added a bunch of decoys to the mix. Are we overrun with Nazis or not?” he asked.

“This caused permanent damage to the American psyche.”

See charts, graphs, documents and photos here.

Tangle (ATTACHMENT THIRTY TWO) dedicated a special issue to the SPLC, Klan and government after acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the nonprofit organization secretly sent over $3 million to informants inside extremist groups without telling donors what their money was being used for. The SPLC denies any wrongdoing and plans to fight the charges.

“Accordding to the indictment, between 2014 and 2023, the SPLC maintained a network of informants who were part of groups like the KKK and the Aryan Nations. These informants relayed information that was used in the center’s reports and databases. In one instance, the center allegedly paid a member of an online group that was part of the planning of the 2017 “Unite the Right” event in Charlottesville, Virginia; the individual “made racist postings under the supervision of the SPLC and helped coordinate transportation to the event for several attendees.” Acting Attorney General Blanche described the alleged practices as “manufacturing racism to justify [the SPLC’s] existence.” 

SPLC Interim President and CEO Bryan Fair rejected the charges, suggesting the Trump administration was targeting the group for political reasons. “They have made no secret of who they want to protect, and who they want to destroy,” he said. He acknowledged the existence of the informant program but said it was a crucial initiative to gather intelligence on extremist groups and did not run afoul of the law. 

As is its custom, Tangle presented arguments and evidence for and against the SPLC and the DoJ.

“What the right is saying.”

· The right says the indictment reveals the hypocrisy of the SPLC’s work.

· Some argue the center’s credibility should be permanently tarnished.

· Others criticize the media’s reporting on the indictment. 

The Washington Examiner editorial board wrote “the Left’s hate fraud factory [is] exposed.”

And in the National Review, Becket Adams criticized “the media’s Herculean effort to obscure the details of the SPLC indictment.”

“What the left is saying.”

· The left is skeptical of the charges, with many calling the Justice Department’s case fundamentally flawed.

· Some say the case is a distraction designed to appease Trump’s base. 

· Others suggest the SPLC’s work is needed now more than ever. 

In Just Security, Andrew Weissmann wrote about “the poverty of the DOJ indictment.”

In Salon, Austin Sarat argued “[the] SPLC indictment lends support to hate groups.”

And in MS NOW, Michael Edison Hayden explored “what the DOJ’s Southern Poverty Law Center indictment is really about.”

And the Tanglers conclude...

· The SPLC almost certainly paid informants, and an indictment to determine criminal wrongdoing seems justified

· Some of the SPLC’s recent actions, and its evolution over time, invite uncomfortable questions

· The DOJ certainly has a political motive here, but that doesn’t discount the possibility of wrongdoing.

“The SPLC is responsible for some bedrock civil rights litigations, and a high-profile lawsuit that targets what is ultimately a pretty small amount of money could provide the perfect course correction for an organization that needs it. Instead, the SPLC can dismiss the entire case as a political witch hunt and preserve its reputation. A sane world would invite some accountability; instead, I expect they’ll be using the DOJ indictment as fundraising tomorrow.”

	IN the NEWS: MAY 8th, 2026 to MAY 14th, 2026
Friday, May 8, 2026 Dow: 49,609.16	It’s Pope Leo’s administration’s first anniversary and, in celebration, he receives a pizza. The haunted hantaviral ghost ship Hondius diverted to the Canary Islands after twenty three maybe-sick passengers have already departed, including two Americans, There are six confirmed cases, six more suspected. Back to the spotlight comes Dr. Ashish Jah, from Covid, who follows the party line that the deadly disease, spread by rats and mice, is not as contagious but... he adds, relief has been compromised by the Trump/RFK Junior war on vaxxes. Speaking of Our President, he reiterates that we have already won the war, even as the strikes from America and Israel to on, as does Iranian retaliation against other Mideast countries. Trump calls the Hormuz strikes “love taps” and sneers “they trifled with us and we blew them away.” He’s more excited about starting another war with Cuba (where gas is going for $40/gallon, saying “I can take it, I can do anything I want with it.” He’s also celebrating his Me Arch and Golden Ballroom, and says that improvements to the White House reflecting pool will keep us safe from terror (so taxpayers should be grateful). Critics say that Iran can outlast us for another three or four months. That means higher oil prices, presently variable, with Shell reporting $7B in profits and gas station gouging the average cost is $4.56. Consumers are cutting back on food, clothing and appliances and growing angrier as midterms get closer but Trump has an answer to that: gerrymandering. Lawsuits and riots follow elimination of majority black districts in Tennessee and officials in Memphis explore the possibility of secession. Does that mean... a “Confederacy”?
Saturday, May 9, 2026 Dow: Closed	Naturalist and documentarian Sir David Attenborough turns 100, honored by celebrities and environmnealist at lavish parties, attended by Prince Harry. “Are they out there?” Pentagon releases fou hundred UFO/UAP files and photographs with testimony by astronauts like Buzz Aldrin, who says “maybe” and conspiracy theorists who say that some aliens have been captured and are being held in NASA lockdown. Astronomer Neil DeGrasse Tyson expresses skepticism on his late nite Colbert appearance, demanding: “Bring us the aliens!” President Trump offers a one page proposal as a deal for Iran to end the war and open the Straits of Hormuz (which is also blockaded by the USA). Missile strikes on tankers... origin unclear... releases huge oil spills that cause environmental chaos, complicated by an oil refinery in New Orleans that sends clouds of thick, black toxic smoke. Insider gamblers are still cashing in on war vagaries. SCOTUS is expected to be the ultimate arbiter of gerrymandering after voting 4-3 to greenlight Republican lines that extermate black Congresspersons, including James Clyburn. Trump considered either a fool or a political genius – the DJI asks: does he “want” a summer of race riots to consolidate a fascist takeover? Another cruise ship hit with an epidemic of the ordinary, but more communicable Norovirus – 115 infected so far on the cruise ship Ambition off the coast of France.
Sunday, May 10, 2026 Dow: Closed	It’s Mother’s Day. (WNBA season begins) Hantavirus haunted Canary Islands sparks local fear, anger. Passengers will be returned to their countries of origen in body or hazmat bags, depending – 17 Americans will be flown to Omaha for 42 days of quarantine. It’s also Talkshow Sunday and, on ABC’s “Week”, authorieies deny social media panic and urge calm, despite another French passenger “catching it” & Patient Zero being fingered as a Dutch tourist in Patagonia. Dr. Michael Osterholm says HV has “limited communicability” – more comparable to Ebola than Corona; only about 30 cases yearly in America due to deer mice but the new, lethal Andes variant is dangerous only if contacted by a “super speader” in a closed environment... like a cruise ship. In the Mideast, American authorities deny losing the war... Amb. Mike Waltz blames Iran’s lack of an effective government (tho’ effective enough to re-close Hormuz). “We are winning! President Trump says so!” A man who should be President, Bin Laden killer Adm. William McRaven, says we should resume negotiations but a 30 day timeline to settle the nuke issues is “way too compressed” and we should include carrots with sticks, even though the new regime is crazier than the old. Liberal Roundtabler Faiz Shakur says that, to change policy, we have to elect Democrats despite gerrymandering which, says Leigh Ann Caldwell of Punch, wll cut black representation in half and the best we can hope for is that Republicans will burn all their money in primary civil wars as in Virginia, which former Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa) calls the key to the Kingdom although Trump is a “turnout machine”... for Democrats. Shakir adds Kentucky’s Sen. Massie another key race – polls say Pennsylvania will spring red because Trump “hugged the flag”. On Face the Nation, “treacherous” astronaut and Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Az) worries about American depletion of arms and ammunition when we should be focused on a Chinese invasion of Taiwan and Trump’s embrace of Putin. EnSec Chris Wright says we’ll have “total victory”. We won the war, but we’re ready to invade, find and capture Iran’s uranium. On The Hill, AEI’s Derek Scissors says Americn AI chips are better, but (as Trump lans his trip to Beijing) the Chinese are cheaper.
Monday, May 11, 2026 Dow: 49,704.07	Oil prices rise overnight after Iran rejects Trump’s one page peace proposal and the President rejects Iran’s many demands, including allowing building of nuclear bombs, reparations for damage cause and lifting of their (not our) Hormuz blockade. “Totally unacceptable,” POTUS says. Gas price rising faster than oil and former TranSec Pete Butt denounces his successor, Sean Duffy, for his side gig as producer of the “Great American Road Trip” reality show which, Pete says, encourages mindless driving around, wasting gas and poisoning the environment. It’s sponsored by airline companies regulated by the DoT which adds further insinuations of corruption to the stew. More states gerrymander Congressional districts, stalling and upsetting primaries and the matter now seems certain to go to the same Supremes as repealed the Voting Rights Act, telling blacks to shut up and pick that cotton.
Tuesday, May 12, 2026 Dow: 49,780.10	President Trump now says that the Iranian government “is on life support” and launches a barrage of posts on Truth Social. He floats suspending the gas tax – it’s only 18¢, “but it’s money.” And he has a plan to dodge those pesky Democrats... he will rename Operation Epic Fury to Operation Sledgehammer, which will allow him 60 more days to restart the War Powers Act. Brilliant! Right? Inflation, well, not so brilliant. April’s 0.6% beats 0.2% in wage increases, hiking the inflation rate to 3.8. Gumment sources say the cost of the war is rising from 25 to 29B (critics say it’s nearer to 1T... or at least 50B). Gas and oil increases are starting to cause supply chain hikes on anything that travels by truck, as well as fertilizer for farmers that will raise the cost of food. The President is lining up friends to take with him to China. Mostly techies... Elon Musk (who is worried that Djonald UnDriven will allow cheap Chinese EVs into America), Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Apple’s Tim Cook, Kelly Ortberg (CEO, Boeing) and America’s next President, Eric Trump. (Just joking, it’s Stephen Miller)... see almost full list as Attachment “A”. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)... normally a Trump sock puppet... gets uppity and says that we should not trust Pakistan and move our Iranian negotiations elsewhere inasmuch as China is propping up Iran and Russia!
Wednesday, May 13, 2026 Dow: 49,693.20	POTUS and his entourage arrive in Beijing. (See a list as Attachmnt “A”) Talking heads largely agree with Graham – China is now more powerful than Russia and closing in on the USA. Analysts say he brought all those techies to encourage doing more business, selling American chips which are better than the Chinese (but also more expensive) so both sides want to make deals. He is also “less hawkish” on trade and tariffs and envious of the Chinese Great Wall (to keep the Mongols out). Along with the nerds, he also brings rapist Hollywood director Bret Rattner who is hoping to make “Rush Hour Four”. Joneses back home are treated to lectures and footage of the latest Chinese humanoid robots which can wash dishes and make beds and, unlike the Russians, don’t fall down. Unitree makes 80% of the world’s humanoid robots, media fails to mention how much they cost but the website shows models that range from $5,000 (USD) to $90,000. In the courts, South Carolina overturns the murder conviction of Alex Murdaugh because a court clerk told jurors he was guilty. But no such luck for children’s book author and husband killer Kouri Richins who gets life without. And, as midnight approaches, dead comic walking (Colbert) gives his questionert to Barack Obama... whose favorite movie is “Casino Royale”, song: “What’s Goin’ On”, first concert attended: Elton John and favorite smell: “Michelle”.
Thursday, May 14, 2026 Dow: 50,009.97	By Trump’s second day in China, the experts say Xi believes that Donnie’s somebody they can manipulate. While he wants them to intervene in the Iranian war, Xi is focused on invading and conquering Taiwan and threatens war if America objects. The good news is that his commercial entourage secures deals to trade fighter jets (with which to kill the Taiwanese), beef and soybeans. They agree to another meeting in the U.S. in September. Back home, he shakes up the cabinet, appointing underling Kyle Diamantas to replace Marty Makary as Food and Drug Czar while Congress confirms new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh and disposes of Stephen Miran The monthly inflation report comes out – Fed Chair Powell’s last. It’s bad, but not as bad as the March oil debacle but bad enough that millions can’t afford food and housing and have to turn to charity, or crime. Trump mobile phones still not delivered, singers like Post Malone, Megan Trainer and the Pussycat Dolls encounter Blue Dot Fever – empty seats due to high ticket process. But there’s good news for Madonna and Shakira, who’ll perform at the (also pricey) World Cup finals.. The Supremes vote for gerrymandering, leading blacks to call for a National Day of Action (and maybe riots) due to the cutting of minority representation by at least a third, maybe half.
A week of big numbers (the Dow cracked the 50,000 ceiling again) for the wealthy, hard times (gas at highest rates since Covid and supply chain woes spreading to consumables consumed by the proles) and a few small, but notable discrepancies. For the first time in what may be years, the Federal Government actually experienced a drop in receipts (i.e. taxes, tariffs and other emoluments), but, on the other hand, an unusual and welcomed (if also tiny) improvement in our balance of trade with the furriners. But it was the affordability issue (plus, perhaps, the gaslighting trip to China that has had no effect on the Iran war while enhancing the prospect of nuclear war should China go crazy and invade Taiwan) that was keeping the Republican prospects down for November – a prospect they are desperately trying to overcome through gerrymandering and a sympathetic (and lawless) SCOTUS.

THE DON JONES INDEX

CHART of CATEGORIES w/VALUE ADDED to EQUAL BASELINE of 15,000

(REFLECTING… approximately… DOW JONES INDEX of June 27, 2013)

Gains in indices as improved are noted in GREEN. Negative/harmful indices in RED as are their designation. (Note – some of the indices where the total went up created a realm where their value went down... and vice versa.) See a further explanation of categories HERE

ECONOMIC INDICES		(60%)
CATEGORY	VALUE	BASE	RESULTS by PERCENTAGE				SCORE		OUR SOURCES and COMMENTS
INCOME	(24%)	6/17/13 revised 1/1/22	LAST	CHANGE		NEXT	LAST WEEK	THIS WEEK	THE WEEK’S CLOSING STATS...
Wages (hrly. Per cap)	9%	1350 points	5/8/26	+0.08%		6/26	1,896.65	1,898.17	https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/average-hourly-earnings 37.41
Median Inc. (yearly)	4%	600	5/8/26	+0.054%		5/22/26	1,129.89	1,130.50	http://www.usdebtclock.org/ 52,058
Unempl. (BLS – in mi)	4%	600	5/8/26	-2.33%		5/26	542.60	542.60	http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS14000000/ 4.3 nc
Official (DC – in mi)	2%	300	5/8/26	-0.10%		5/22/26	216.17	216.39	http://www.usdebtclock.org/    7,252
Unofficl. (DC – in mi)	2%	300	5/8/26	+0.13%		5/22/26	250.01	249.68	http://www.usdebtclock.org/    13,724
Workforce Participation Number Percent	2%	300	5/8/26	-0.011% -0.002%		5/22/26	295.95	295.89	http://www.usdebtclock.org/    In 162,769 Out 105,058 Total: 267,827 60.774
WP % (ycharts)*	1%	150	5/8/26	-0.162%		5/26	150.22	149.98	https://ycharts.com/indicators/labor_force_participation_rate 61.80
OUTGO	(15%)
Total Inflation	7%	1050	5/8/26	+0.6%		6/26	911.77	906.30	http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm     +0.6
Food	2%	300	5/8/26	+0.5%		6/26	259.19	257.89	http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm     +0.5
Gasoline	2%	300	5/8/26	+5.4%		6/26	206.83	195.66	http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm    +5.4
Medical Costs	2%	300	5/8/26	+0.6%		6/26	270.10	268.48	http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm     +0.6
Shelter	2%	300	5/8/26	+0.0%		6/26	239.10	239.10	http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm     +0.0
WEALTH
Dow Jones Index	2%	300	5/8/26	+0.72%		5/22/26	382.15	384.90	https://www.wsj.com/market-data/quotes/index/ 50,009.97
Home (Sales) (Valuation)	1% 1%	150 150	5/8/26	-2.69% +2.71%		5/22/26	129.54 267.74	129.54 267.74	https://www.nar.realtor/research-and-statistics Sales (M):  3.98 Valuations (K):  408.8
Millionaires (New Category)	1%	150	5/8/26	+0.053%		5/22/26	137.04	137.11	http://www.usdebtclock.org/    24,218
Paupers (New Category)	1%	150	5/8/26	+0.030%		5/22/26	135.07	135.03	http://www.usdebtclock.org/    36,874
GOVERNMENT	(10%)
Revenue (trilns.)	2%	300	5/8/26	-0.005%		5/22/26	475.70	475.67	http://www.usdebtclock.org/    5,459
Expenditures (tr.)	2%	300	5/8/26	+0.042%		5/22/26	291.65	291.53	http://www.usdebtclock.org/    7,125
National Debt tr.)	3%	450	5/8/26	+0.071%		5/22/26	346.22	345.97	http://www.usdebtclock.org/    39,243
Aggregate Debt (tr.)	3%	450	5/8/26	+0.087%		5/22/26	369.81	369.49	http://www.usdebtclock.org/    107,862
TRADE	(5%)
Foreign Debt (tr.)	2%	300	5/8/26	+0.91%		5/22/26	250.80	253.08	http://www.usdebtclock.org/    9,512
Exports (in billions)	1%	150	5/8/26	+1.94%		5/26	199.71	199.71	https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/current/index.html 320.9
Imports (in billions))	1%	150	5/8/26	-2.39%		5/26	135.33	135.33	https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/current/index.html 381.2
Trade Surplus/Deficit (blns.)	1%	150	5/8/26	+4.98%		5/26	234.98	234.98	https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/current/index.html 60.3
ACTS of MAN	(12%)
World Affairs	3%	450	5/8/26	+0.1%		5/22/26	469.61	470.08	Shootout in Filipino Senate gives Americans ideas. Eleven K carat found in Myanmar’s war zone. Demi Moore goes to Cannes and defends AI. Bad week for U.K. PM Starmer – his party loses elections, Epstein-ish Amb. Mandelson bumbles along while far-right Nigel Farage gains power.
War and terrorism	2%	300	5/8/26	+0.1%		5/22/26	282.88	283.16	Russia’s bargain basement military parade may be a sign that they are tiring of the Ukraine war? Tunisian jihadist arrested in Paris. Acting Venezuelan President rejects US proposal to make it their 51^st state. And all the wars keep rolling on.
Politics	3%	450	5/8/26	-0.2%		5/22/26	454.21	453.30	Virginia aids Trump by overturning voter-approved Congressional maps to re-segregate the state. RFK Junior rescues a bird at the airport. Jokes ensue. FBI’s Kash denies he’s a drunk, but merchers are displaying his Signature Bourbon.
Economics	3%	450	5/8/26	-0.2%		5/22/26	427.91	427.06	Inflation report out and... it’s up. Division over potential suspension of Federal gas tax. WalMart gets back $10B n tariff refunds. They keep it and terminate 1,000 workers. CISCO tops them with 4,000 layoffs. EBay rejects Game Stop buyout offer.
Crime	1%	150	5/8/26	-0.1%		5/22/26	203.36	203.16	Correspondents’ Dinner gunman pleads not guilty, so do dozens of ordinary killers, robbers and rapists. Evidence of “human remains” found in Kristen Smart’s killer’s mother’s back yard. Mayor of Arcadia, CA exposed as Chinese secret agent.
ACTS of GOD	(6%)
Environment/Weather	3%	450	5/8/26	-0.1%		5/22/26	279.14	278.86	Wildfires in the Everglades burn 11,000 acres, close in on Miami, record heat in Death Valley - 116°, tornadoes here and there across the heartland and the coasts get ready for hurricane season. Arhur will be first named on the east coast, Amanda on the west.
Disasters	3%	450	5/8/26	-0.1%		5/22/26	464.46	464.00	Deadly day for hikers; volcano bakes three in Indonexia; bear gobbles human in Montana. Denver airport runway runover called a suicide. But after a Bahamian bound plane crashes off Florida, 11 are saved at sea. Pilot Ian Nixon is declared a hero.
LIFESTYLE/JUSTICE INDEX		(15%)
Science, Tech, Education	4%	600	5/8/26	-0.1%		5/22/26	621.07	620.45	Pentagon releases its secret UFO files but astronomer Neil deGrasse Tyson says: “Bring us the aliens! Chinese “AI slop” used to collect donations for imaginary oppressed American victims. 275M studends on educational website Canvas hacked and extorted, postponing 8,000 final exams.
Equality (econ/social)	4%	600	5/8/26	-0.1%		5/22/26	670.36	669.69	A third, maybe half of black Congressthings will be gerrymandered so activists are planning a Day of Action. Manfluencers are touting the latest craze; “ballmaxing” whereas manly men inject saline into their genitals to... uh... impress the ladies.
Health	4%	600	5/8/26	-0.1%		5/22/26	414.22	413.81	As Hantavirus panic grows. Dr. Bhattacharya (fourth acting CDC substitute in a year when 2,400 doctors have quit or been fired) blames Biden. FDA’s Marty Makary purged over fruit flavoured vapes. Infections rise, including ordinary HV caused by rats in Illinois. Luxury chocolates recalled for salmonella. Waymo recalls self-driving taxis that cannot navigate flooded streets. Some TV docs say Americans can cut their daily step count from 10,000 to 8,000 and still lose weight; others say “supplement stacking” risks liver failure.
Freedom and Justice	3%	450	5/8/26		nc	5/22/26	479.20	479.20	Police sue Damon and Affleck for stealing their story in “The Rip”. Dua Lipa sues “Avatar” franchise for stealing her face for AI blue aliens. Richins guilty, but Murdaugh gets a new trial and Rhode Island courts will decide on grandparent’s rights. Continued FCC attack on TV comedy has old guy David Letterman on doomed Colbert wondering “what will happen with the Jimmies?”
CULTURAL and MISCELLANEOUS INCIDENTS			(6%)
Cultural incidents	3%	450	5/8/26	+0.1%		5/22/26	591.19	591.70	NBA down to Elite Eight then, after Knicks sweep Sixers. WNBA season begins. NFL setting up schedule, includes a Pittsburgh/New Orleans matchup in Paris. Sabrina Carpenter and Madonna rock Coachella as artists team up to fight the Blue Dot Fever (empty concert seats due to inflation).. Miley Cyrus gets her Hollywood Star. “Prada Two” wins week two at B/O. with another Star Wars sequel ahead, also biodoc “Marty, Life is Short” – a TV biodoc paints Richard Simmons as a sad child in a house full of angels and dolls. RIP: World Series manager Bobby Cox; GAP founder Doris Fisher; actor Donald Gibb (“Revenge of the Nerds”), ballers Jackson Carr and first gay Jason Collins and Brendan Clark of the Grizzlies.. Preachers at funeral for 8 kids murdered in Shreveport say “God’s Plan is not our plan.”
Miscellaneous incidents	4%	450	5/8/26	+0.1%		5/22/26	552.30	552.85	Florida planning to close Alligator Alcatraz. 22 year old raises millions in weird scheme to crowdfund Spirit Airlins back to life. Travis/Taylor wedding set for July 13^th.

The Don Jones Index for the week of May 8^th through May 14^th, 2026 was DOWN 14.45 points

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ATTACHMENT ONE – FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION SECURES NEW INDICTMENT AGAINST COMEY

By Monica Jorge April 28, 2026, 2:28 p.m. ET

The Justice Department has secured a new indictment of James Comey, the former F.B.I. director, over a photograph of seashells on a North Carolina beach. It comes after a past indictment effort spurred by President Trump last year ended in failure.

Read more here

ATTACHMENT TWO – FROM FBI.ORG (REPRINTED FROM 5/8)

DIRECTOR PATEL'S REMARKS ON INDICTMENT OF FORMER FBI DIRECTOR COMEY

FBI Director Kash Patel spoke at an April 28, 2026, press conference at the U.S. Department of Justice announcing charges against former FBI Director James Comey. Patel joined Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and W. Ellis Boyle, U.S attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

“As you heard from the attorney general, and the U.S. attorney, former FBI Director James Comey has now been indicted for two felony counts. While many of you may read this indictment and view this matter as a simple investigation, it is the farthest thing from that. Every single investigation this FBI and our partners at the Department of Justice undertake, especially those that involve the threats to harm or hurt or even kill individuals, whether they hold public office or civilians in our country, are met with the same measure of investigative prowess and tools and personnel and partnership with the Department of Justice as anyone else.

As the U.S. attorney indicated, James Comey will be afforded every matter of due process under the United States Constitution. And as (t)he Attorney General indicated, this has been a case that's been investigated over the past, nine, 10, 11 months. These cases take time. Our investigators work methodically. They are career agents, career prosecutors who work these matters. They call the balls and strikes in the field as they see fit.

Pursuant to the facts of the case and the law. They took that information and made a presentment to a grand jury. A jury of their peers in the district in which the alleged crime took place, and that grand jury spoke, and that grand jury returned a two-count indictment against James Comey. James Comey allegedly threatened the life of the president of the United States.

And as you all now know, shortly after posting that threat, he deleted that threat and then issued an apology. All of that information was presented to the grand jury. And, Mr. Comey will have his day in court and his ability to speak to a jury of his peers. Thank you

ATTACHMENT THREE – FROM CNN

COMEY AND KIMMEL CASES DRIVE HOME TRUMP’S DIM VIEW OF FOES’ FREE SPEECH

By Aaron Blake, April 29, 2026

Three weeks into President Donald Trump’s second term last year, Vice President JD Vance infamously lectured Europe about its free speech abuses. He also made a promise.

“Just as the Biden administration seemed desperate to silence people for speaking their minds, so the Trump administration will do precisely the opposite,” Vance said in Munich, Germany. “And I hope that we can work together on that. In Washington, there is a new sheriff in town.”

Ever since then, though, the Trump administration has appeared bent on making Vance eat those words. It has taken a remarkably dim view of free speech rights, at least where Trump’s foes and other disfavored groups are concerned.

And perhaps no day has driven that home like Tuesday did.

Early on, we learned that the Federal Communications Commission was taking the remarkable step of challenging ABC’s station licenses – as Trump once again is calling for the network to punish talk show host Jimmy Kimmel for a joke. Soon after, we learned the administration had secured an indictment against former FBI Director James Comey for conduct that, much like Kimmel’s joke, appears very likely to be constitutionally protected speech.

Both are second bites at the apple to punish foes after the first ones didn’t pan out. And in each case, they’re arguably even more transparent than the initial efforts.

In Kimmel’s case, the FCC ordered the review of the station licenses, which it claimed is tied to a probe into parent company Disney’s diversity practices, after the comedian told a joke that involved Trump’s demise. The offending remark was about how first lady Melania Trump had the “glow of an expectant widow.” The president had called for Kimmel’s firing.

This follows a previous instance in which ABC briefly suspended Kimmel’s show amid threats from FCC Chairman Brendan Carr over another Kimmel joke – this one involving the possibility that conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassin was a MAGA supporter (which has never appeared to actually be true).

Top of Form

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Whether either of those jokes were good or even tasteful isn’t really material here; the point is that both appear to be well within the bounds of protected speech.

While Kimmel’s joke about the president’s demise lands differently after a gunman was later arrested a floor above Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner over the weekend, it was hardly a threat. And Kimmel has explained that he was making a joke about the age gap between the 56-year-old Melania Trump and the 79-year-old and visibly aging Trump.

In the prior incident involving Kimmel, Carr claimed he wasn’t actually threatening ABC (despite saying things could be handled “the easy way or the hard way”). And part of the criticism there was also that Kimmel was spreading misinformation about an assassin.

But both of those claims are out the window this time as the FCC takes the major and very rare step of reviewing broadcast licenses, rather than just suggesting others should do something. Despite the FCC’s assertions, it’s difficult to argue this episode is about anything other than punishing a joke the administration didn’t like.

The Comey indictment presents similar dynamics.

Much like with Kimmel, the administration tried to go after the ex-FBI chief for a separate issue that didn’t pan out – namely, a September indictment for alleged false statements to Congress.

Except even conservative legal scholars were quite skeptical of those charges. The case was also apparently so thin that grand jurors rejected one charge and only narrowly approved two others – despite grand jurors very rarely rejecting charges.

The case was thrown out when the US attorney who secured it was ruled to be serving in the role illegally.

But rather than secure a re-indictment on those charges, the Justice Department has gone for a completely separate case – one stemming from Comey posting an image of seashells arranged to spell out “86 47.”

Trump and top administration officials had claimed when he posted it last year that it was a threat or even treason, even though “86” has plenty of meanings that aren’t “kill.” (“47” is shorthand for Trump, the 47th president.) Comey said he didn’t know it could have that meaning, and he quickly deleted the post.

The administration appears to face a similarly steep hill in getting a conviction in this case. It must not only convince jurors that “86” constitutes a threat – which could be extra-difficult given Comey says he stumbled upon the shells rather than arranged them himself – but recent Supreme Court precedent means it must also prove that Comey had “some subjective understanding of the threatening nature of his statements.”

That’s a very high bar. And experts have been dubious it can be cleared.

That said, landing a conviction of Comey or revoking licenses from ABC after what’s due to be a lengthy review process probably isn’t the point. There’s also plenty to be said for inconveniencing people you don’t like and sending a message to others who might do you wrong.

And the administration has made it clear that its foes’ free speech rights are of little concern in that effort.

Trump tests the First Amendment: A timeline

Federal prosecutors previously, of course, sought indictments of six Democratic members of Congress for telling members of military not to obey illegal orders from Trump – even though that’s guidance service members are already given. A grand jury rejected those charges.

The Department of Defense launched an onerous press policy for Pentagon reporters that was later struck down.

The administration has sought to deport legal immigrants who expressed support for Palestinians.

Trump has launched thin lawsuits against media organizations whose coverage he disagrees with.

And after Kirk’s assassination, then-Attorney General Pam Bondi briefly previewed a planned crackdown on hate speech, even though hate speech is protected speech under Supreme Court precedent.

That and the first Kimmel episode around the same time are some of the few instances in which even conservative free-speech advocates actually pushed back on the administration – and caused it to retreat.

But clearly, it’s not done pushing the limits – in ways that fly in the face of what it promised on the First Amendment.

ATTACHMENT FOUR – FROM THE L.A. TIMES

AS KIMMEL MOCKS TRUMP, ABC’S TV STATION LICENSES ARE UNDER REVIEW — HERE’S WHAT THAT MEANS

By Stephen Battaglio May 5, 2026 3 AM PT

· FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced an early review of Disney’s eight ABC TV station licenses, citing concerns about the company’s diversity and inclusion policies — two years ahead of schedule.

· The announcement comes days after late-night host Jimmy Kimmel mocked Melania Trump and the first lady publicly called for his firing, raising questions about whether the FCC’s action is politically motivated.

· Legal experts say the bar for license denial is historically high and any challenge would be tied up in court for years, making actual revocation unlikely despite administration pressure.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr has shown an ability to make a lot of noise at the government agency known in recent years to be a little sleepy.

But his April 28 announcement that the Walt Disney Co.’s eight ABC TV stations will undergo an early review of their broadcast licenses is his loudest action yet taken on behalf of President Trump, who repeatedly threatened media outlets that he believes are critical of him.

Carr is calling for the review two years before any of the station licenses are up, citing the agency’s inquiry into Disney’s diversity, equity and inclusion policies and whether they violated federal anti-discrimination rules.

April 28, 2026

The timing of Carr’s move is raising eyebrows as it comes after First Lady Melania Trump’s call for the firing of ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel over his April 23 comedy bit on the White House correspondents’ dinner. A tuxedo-clad Kimmel called Melania Trump “beautiful,” saying she had “the glow of an expectant widow.”

The first lady’s remarks came after a man armed with a shotgun, handgun and several knives breached security at the Washington black-tie event on April 25. The suspect, Cole Tomas Allen of Torrance, was arrested and faces three criminal charges, including attempting to assassinate the president.

Kimmel’s gag became ammunition for right-wing commentators, who claim the left is stoking political violence.

The host said the joke was about the age difference between the 79-year-old president and his wife. Kimmel denied it was a call for violence and has continued to mock the president on his show.

Carr insisted at a Washington news conference last week that his demand for a review is not related to Kimmel’s remarks.

Although many are skeptical, Carr, who was at the April 25 dinner, told The Times there would be an action related to ABC coming soon. The conversation occurred hours before the shots were fired.

The investigation into Disney’s practices began in March 2025, part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to reverse DEI initiatives across private companies, federal agencies, universities and other organizations.

After the 2020 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, which spurred the Black Lives Matter movement, companies such as Disney and NBC-owned Comcast aggressively promoted their diversity efforts.

But experts believe Carr is acting on ABC at the behest of Trump, as the chairman has often expressed support on social media whenever the president criticizes one of the broadcast TV news outlets.

From tuxedos to trenches: How media’s biggest black-tie party became a violent story

“It might be the case that Disney can get some early relief by saying this should be dismissed because this is really a 1st Amendment issue,” said James Speta, a professor at the Northwestern University School of Law. “We all know what’s going on here — the administration doesn’t like the speech that’s coming out of the talent on the broadcasting airwaves.”

Disney is not commenting on Carr’s DEI investigation, but it earlier defended the record of its TV stations, which are ratings leaders in most markets. “We are confident that record demonstrates our continued qualifications as licensees under the Communications Act and the First Amendment and are prepared to show that through the appropriate legal channels,” the company said.

Here’s a primer on what to know and the challenges Disney may face.

WHY ARE TV STATIONS LICENSED BY THE GOVERNMENT?

Government licensing regulates the spectrum allocated to broadcast channels, largely to prevent interference between TV signals. When renewals come up, the license holder must demonstrate that the station is serving the public interest by providing local news, program diversity and educational and informational shows for children. The procedure once occurred every three years, but deregulation efforts have extended that period to the current span of eight years.

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME A TV STATION FACED A SIGNIFICANT LICENSE RENEWAL CHALLENGE?

The most notable recent example was Fox Corp.’s Philadelphia station WTXF, which was up for a license renewal in October 2023. Activist groups filing the challenge said Fox was unfit to own the outlet after a judge ruled earlier that year that the company’s Fox News Channel had spread falsehoods about voter fraud in the 2020 election.

Fox paid $787 million to settle a defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems that alleged the cable news channel damaged the company’s reputation.

Fox News, which operates on cable and satellite and is therefore not subject to FCC control, has a different management team than the parent company’s local TV stations, which mostly cover their communities and do not typically present political commentary. The FCC rejected the renewal challenge in January 2025, noting that none of the false information on Fox News was heard on the Philadelphia station. WTXF was not cited in Dominion’s lawsuit.

ARE THERE ANY OTHER EXAMPLES?

Yes. Other White House administrations have threatened to pull TV station licenses in response to negative news coverage. At the height of the Watergate scandal in the 1970s, Richard Nixon’s allies unsuccessfully attempted to challenge the TV licenses of three stations then owned by the Washington Post.

HAS A COMPANY EVER LOST ITS BROADCAST LICENSE?

RKO General, a unit of the General Tire and Rubber Co., was the last company to lose broadcast TV station licenses in 1987, including Los Angeles outlet KHJ. The case was related to corporate malfeasance and not broadcast content on the stations.

The process to revoke the RKO licenses took seven years from the moment the FCC voted in favor of the move.

BUT ISN’T THIS CASE DIFFERENT?

Yes. Although the rule Carr mentioned is legitimate, the FCC has rarely if ever acted on it, according to one veteran TV executive who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. If Disney or any other company was found to violate the nondiscrimination rule, they would in previous eras probably be subjected to a just a fine, not the denial of a license, which would be viewed by many as government censorship.

WHAT HAPPENS IN THE EVENT THAT ABC LICENSES ARE NOT RENEWED?

Nothing immediately, as the licenses are in effect through 2028 to 2032, depending on the outlet. If Disney had to sell the stations, the price would probably be depressed due to pressure to unload the properties.

But public communications attorney Andrew Jay Schwartzman told The Times last month that the bar for denying a renewal is high and any effort would be tied up in court on constitutional grounds.

“The law intentionally sets out a very steep burden for the FCC to deny a license renewal; the process takes many years, during which time the licensee continues to operate normally under ‘continuing operating authority,’” Schwartzman said.

ATTACHMENT FIVE – ANOTHER from the LOS ANGELES TIME...

STEPHEN COLBERT, TRUMP AND WHAT’S MAKING BROADCASTERS NERVOUS

by Stephen Battaglio Feb. 20, 2026 9:30 AM PT

· Stephen Colbert said CBS pulled his interview with Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico, citing FCC equal time rules. The network disputed the claim.

· FCC Chairman Brendan Carr is aggressively reviving dormant equal-time rules to pressure networks, moves critics say threaten free speech and target Trump opponents.

· Legal experts question Carr’s authority to enforce the rule but say broadcasters are intimidated by threats to pull their licenses.

It was an extraordinary media moment: CBS late-night host Stephen Colbert on Tuesday publicly blasted his own employer over its handling of his interview with Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico of Texas.

Colbert contended that his own network prevented him from airing the interview Monday in an effort to appease the Trump administration, which CBS has denied. He chose instead to put the sit-down with the Texas state legislator on YouTube, which is not regulated by the FCC.

The standoff not only highlighted the simmering tensions inside CBS with the late-night host, it also marked the latest flash point in the ongoing clash between the Trump administration and leading media and entertainment figures — including other late-night hosts Seth Meyers and Jimmy Kimmel — who have been openly critical of the president’s policies.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr has been leading the administration’s efforts, aggressively attempting to wield the long dormant equal-time rules requiring broadcast TV stations to offer equal time to opposing candidates as a means of influencing the legacy media companies who President Trump says treat him unfairly.

Carr contends that the effort is a long overdue corrective to combat what he and Trump believe is liberal bias in broadcast network news coverage. He has even threatened to pull TV station licenses if programmers don’t get in line.

Last fall, he warned ABC that it could lose its TV station licenses after Kimmel made remarks on his program about slain right-wing activist Charlie Kirk that upset conservatives. Two major TV station groups pulled the program and the network suspended Kimmel‘s program for a week.

But experts say the moves — along with the recent arrest of former CNN journalist Don Lemon over civil rights charges — pose a threat to constitutionally protected freedom of speech and would likely face court challenges.

“We don’t want the government trying to make decisions as to what counts as political speech and what doesn’t and what counts as fairness and what doesn’t,” media consultant Michael Harrison told The Times last month.

Some experts are also skeptical that Carr will ever make good on those threats through greater enforcement of the equal-time provision.

Andrew Jay Schwartzman, a public interest communications attorney, said Carr is using his bully pulpit at the FCC to intimidate “a timorous broadcasting industry.”

“It’s just all bluster,” said Schwartzman. “Broadcasters are more interested in short-term regulatory relief from the FCC, and in the case of [CBS parent] Paramount, getting approval of a possible Warner Bros. Discovery deal.”

CBS cited financial losses as the reason for its cancellation of Colbert’s “Late Show,” which ends in May — a decision that came just two months before CBS parent Paramount Global closed its merger deal with Skydance Media, which required regulatory approval from the Trump administration. Paramount also has been attempting a hostile bid for Warner Bros. Discovery.

Paramount also drew scrutiny over its controversial decision to pay $16 million to settle Trump’s legal salvo against “60 Minutes” over the editing of an interview with his 2024 opponent, then-Vice President Kamala Harris. Most legal analysts viewed the case as frivolous.

Inside CBS News: Fear, anger and a silver lining after Paramount-Trump settlement

Jeffrey McCall, a communications professor at DePauw University, said he understands why CBS did not want to invite FCC scrutiny.

“CBS could have other matters in front of the FCC,” McCall said. “So, I don’t blame CBS for trying to tell Colbert like, ‘Hey, back off.’ ”

Arrest of ex-CNN anchor Don Lemon in Beverly Hills raises 1st Amendment concerns

But McCall added that he sees no reason for the FCC to end or curtail the exemption daytime and late-night television talk shows have from laws requiring stations to offer equal broadcast opportunities to political candidates.

“They have a lot to do otherwise and I’m just not sure this is worth their trouble,” he said.

The equal-time rules were devised at a time when consumers had a limited number of media options. Broadcast TV is no longer dominant in the era of streaming, as evidenced by how the Talarico interview drew 8 million views on YouTube — more than three times the typical TV audience for Colbert’s show.

Schwartzman noted that equal-time provision cases are typically resolved quickly, as the rule applies only during an election campaign.

If Talarico’s interview had aired on TV and his opponents requested time, CBS would have to accommodate them ahead of the Texas primary election on March 3. (The network would not have been required to give time to Republican candidates.)

CBS could have fulfilled the request by providing time on its affiliated stations in Texas. The opposing candidates did not have to appear on Colbert’s show.

“The remedy is you have to give them airtime,” Schwartzman said. “That’s all.”

CBS wanted Colbert to steer clear of Talarico because the FCC previously announced it is “investigating” ABC over the candidate’s appearance on “The View,” according to a network executive not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. Talarico was on the daytime talk show Feb. 2, which has led to the FCC launching an “enforcement action” on the matter.

Representatives from CBS and ABC declined to comment.

Appearing Wednesday on Fox News Channel’s “The Ingraham Angle,” Carr brushed off accusations by Democrats that he was using the rule to silence their candidates.

“What we’re doing now is simply applying the law on the books,” Carr said.

When host Laura Ingraham noted that if CBS had aired the Talarico interview, it would have meant free airtime for Talarico’s primary opponent and high-profile Trump critic Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), Carr replied, “Ironically, yes.”

But Schwartzman noted that if the FCC punished a network for ignoring the rule, the move would likely be challenged in court and take years to resolve. Even if the policy were violated, that would not be enough to get a station license pulled.

“A single violation or even a couple of violations of FCC policy are meaningless,” Schwartzman said. “You have to demonstrate a pattern of violations.”

Carr has also publicly supported Nexstar Media Group’s proposed $6.2-billion merger with Tegna, which would require the government to lift the ownership cap that limits TV station owners to coverage of 39% of the U.S. with their outlets.

Not surprisingly, the merger has the support of Trump, who is pals with top Nexstar executive Sean Compton, who oversees its cable channel NewsNation.

“We need more competition against THE ENEMY, the Fake News National TV Networks,” Trump wrote Feb. 7 on Truth Social. “Letting Good Deals get done like Nexstar — Tegna will help knock out the Fake News because there will be more competition, and at a higher and more sophisticated level.”

How Nexstar could take on the broadcast networks is a mystery. Nexstar is highly dependent on its affiliations with ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox due to their contracts with the NFL, which provide the stations with their highest-rated programming. Those network affiliations also give Nexstar leverage in its negotiations to get carriage on cable and satellite providers.

FCC chair’s call for ‘equal time’ could have chilling effect on TV and radio

FCC chair threatens to pull TV licenses over Iran news coverage. Why that’s highly unlikely

ATTACHMENT SIX – FROM THE NY TIMES

ABC ACCUSES GOVERNMENT OF VIOLATING FIRST AMENDMENT

May 8, 2026, 11:49 a.m. ET

The network’s argument, made to the F.C.C. in a dispute over “The View,” is the most aggressive posture taken yet by a television network toward the Trump administration.

Read more

ATTACHMENT SEVEN – FROM NEW YORK MAGAZINE

ABC TAKES THE FIGHT TO TRUMP ADMINISTRATION OVER FCC’S VIEW PROBE

By Nia Prater, Intelligencer staff writer, who covers New York politics Updated 3:36 P.M.

ABC is accusing the Federal Communications Commission of violating the First Amendment as the agency is continuing to challenge whether the network’s long-standing program The View violated its “equal time” rule for political candidates.

In February, FCC chairman Brendan Carr said the agency intended to begin enforcement actions against The View in connection with an interview that the talk show aired with Texas U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico, suggesting that the program shouldn’t qualify for the “bona fide” news exemption that would allow the interview to be aired without having to offer equal time to Talarico’s opponents in the race like Representative Jasmine Crockett, who did not appear on The View during her campaign.

In a 52-page filing made public this week, ABC wrote that the network affirmed The View’s status as a “bona fide news interview program” in 2002 and that the show has conducted countless political and entertainment-based interviews in the decades since. The network says a recent order from the FCC for its Houston affiliate KTRK-TV to formally request confirmation that it qualified for the exemption was “unprecedented.”

“The Commission’s actions threaten to upend decades of settled law and practice and chill critical protected speech, both with respect to The View and more broadly,” the filing, signed by former U.S. solicitor general Paul Clement, read.

ABC argued in its filing that the FCC has not sought similar probes into appearances by Texas Republican candidates on radio programs like “The Mark Levin Show” or “The Glenn Beck Program,” saying that such a disparity “raises serious concerns about viewpoint discrimination and retaliatory targeting.”

“Some may dislike certain — or even most — of the viewpoints expressed on The View or similar shows. Such dislike, however, cannot justify using regulatory processes to restrict those views,” the filing said. “The danger is that the government will simply decide which perspectives to regulate and which to leave undisturbed. In fact, while the Commission now questions The View’s decades-long exemption, it has not expressed any inclination to apply a similar interpretation of the equal opportunities rule to other broadcasters, including the many voices — conservative and liberal — on broadcast radio.”

The fiery response from the storied network comes as the federal government has taken aim at ABC in recent weeks over another one of its programs. The White House has renewed its push for the ouster of Jimmy Kimmel after the late-night-show host made a joke comparing First Lady Melania Trump to a future widow just days before an attempt would be made on President Donald Trump’s life at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner last month. Kimmel and his long-running show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, were briefly suspended last year following backlash over a joke related to the assassination of influencer Charlie Kirk. Though the First Couple denounced Kimmel’s joke as a call for violence and urged ABC to fire him, the network has shown no signs of reprimanding Kimmel, who has continued to host since the controversy began.

Carr’s focus on The View has its roots in an FCC guidance issued in January that raised concerns that the agency was eyeing changes to the equal-time rule, particularly surrounding late-night and daytime talk shows, which have frequently leaned into political jokes and commentary since Trump’s emergence on the political scene. Worries about the potential changes prompted CBS’s The Late Show to not air another Talarico interview, this time with host Stephen Colbert, to avoid running afoul of the new guidance. The Talarico interview was posted online instead and amassed a seismic number of views as Carr claimed that the conversation could have aired and that the whole controversy was a “hoax” manufactured to promote Talarico. Last month, the FCC also ordered an early review of all of ABC’s network broadcast licenses, indicating it was related to an investigation into its diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.

ATTACHMENT EIGHT – FROM THE GUARDIAN U.K.

ABC LAWYERS ACCUSE TRUMP’S FCC OF PUNISHING NETWORK FOR POLITICAL REASONS

Network lawyers in a legal motion strongly pushed back against the FCC’s investigation into The View talkshow

By Jeremy Barr Fri 8 May 2026 13.34 EDT

Lawyers representing an ABC station have accused the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of punishing the network for political purposes in a strongly worded attack on the Trump-controlled commission’s investigation into the top-rated talkshow The View.

In a legal motion filed on Thursday, KTRK-TV, a Houston-based local television station owned by ABC, pushed back strongly against the FCC investigation, accusing the purportedly independent agency of taking actions that “threaten to upend decades of settled law and practice and chill critical protected speech, both with respect to The View and more broadly”.

Back in February, Brendan Carr, the FCC chair, confirmed to the Guardian that the agency had opened an enforcement action into ABC over The View, looking at whether it had violated equal-time rules by featuring a US Senate candidate from Texas, James Talarico, without affording the same platform to all of his campaign rivals. Jasmine Crockett, a top rival candidate, had appeared a month earlier.

KTRK-TV and ABC confirmed that it was still under the impression that the show, which is part of the network’s news division, qualified for an exemption to the equal-time rules because it operated as a “bonafide” news interview program, something Carr has challenged.

“The View’s exemption remains valid and the constitutional infirmities in the equal time doctrine are even more pronounced today, when the broadcast airwaves account for a slice of the numerous media options through which Americans get their political information,” the 7 May public filing, which was first highlighted by the New York Times, stated. “While candidates are always able to connect with voters on cable, podcasts, and social media, specifically requiring broadcast airtime for all qualified candidates does not expand speech; rather, it makes coverage infeasible, which ultimately reduces it.”

The station accused the FCC of punishing ABC and The View for political purposes, considering that the show often features liberal guests – though it has long featured at least one conservative voice. The station also argued that conservative programs have unfairly been given a pass on equal-time rules.

“Some may dislike certain – or even most – of the viewpoints expressed on The View or similar shows,” the station’s lawyers argued. “Such dislike, however, cannot justify using regulatory processes to restrict those views.” The station noted that it often invites conservative lawmakers who decline to appear on The View, including JD Vance, the vice-president, and Marco Rubio, the secretary of state.

ABC argued that the FCC had created unnecessary uncertainty about whether interviews with political candidates would trigger equal-time rules, particularly with the midterm elections a few months away.

“As the 2026 election approaches, the American people need more access to political news and more exposure to political candidates, not less,” the filing states. “It is therefore imperative that the commission act quickly to assure broadcasters that it will uphold its long-established standards protecting broadcasters’ good faith news judgment in including political candidates in bona fide news programming. To do anything else – on the eve of an election cycle – would compound the uncertainty and resulting First Amendment chill that the Commission’s recent actions have engendered.”

The station also requested that the full FCC commission weigh in on the matter, rather than just the commission’s media bureau, and suggested that legal action might also be necessary.

“Decades ago, Congress passed a law that generally prohibits broadcast television programs from putting a thumb on the scale in favor of one political candidate over another,” the FCC said in a statement. “The equal time law encourages more speech and empowers voters to decide the outcome of elections. The FCC will review Disney’s assertion that ‘The View’ is a ‘bona fide news program’ and thus exempt from the political equal time rules.”

ABC’s filing includes extensive detail about how The View operates, meant to convey that it cannot be co-opted for partisan purposes. “The production process is designed to mitigate the possibility that a candidate can usurp the functions of the program for his or her own purposes or use The View as a soapbox,” it reads. “Once taped, the Executive Producer oversees the production process, and interviewees are not provided any opportunity to influence or affect the content of their interview prior to airing during the scheduled timeslot.”

The show’s executive producer, Brian Teta, also submitted an affidavit affirming that he does not pick guests based on a desire to advance any political interest.

ABC’s parent company, Disney, is also facing an investigation into its diversity, equity and inclusion practices that began last year. Last week, Carr cited the findings of that investigation as the basis for an extraordinary and nearly unprecedented order for ABC to apply early to renew its eight local station licenses, which were not originally supposed to require renewal until 2028 at the earliest and 2031 at the latest.

On Thursday, a group of prominent Senate Democrats sent Carr a letter urging him to rescind the order.

Anna M Gomez, the lone Democrat-appointed FCC commissioner, praised ABC’s response to the equal-time investigation in a post on X. “The days of the FCC as a paper tiger are numbered,” she wrote. “What the public will remember is who complied in advance and who fought back. I’m glad Disney is choosing courage over capitulation.”

Jessica González, co-chief executive of the advocacy organization Free Press, contrasted ABC’s filing with the network’s decision to settle a lawsuit filed by Donald Trump in late 2024 for $15m.

“I urge ABC and its parent company Disney to continue fighting for free speech,” she said in a statement. “Doing anything less deprives audiences of the diversity of viewpoints that are critical to the health of a democracy.”

ATTACHMENT NINE – FROM THE INDEPENDENT U.K.

ABC GETS TOUGH WITH TRUMP’S FCC OVER THE VIEW AFTER CAVING ON JIMMY KIMMEL

ABC has accused the FCC of attempting to ‘chill critical protected speech’

By Kevin E G Perry in Los Angeles Friday 08 May 2026 15:23 EDT

ABC has pushed back at the FCC over their investigation into The View, arguing that the agency is attempting to “chill critical protected speech.”

The move comes weeks after the FCC told ABC it must renew its broadcast licenses amid the fallout of Jimmy Kimmel’s controversial joke about Melania Trump.

It suggests that ABC is more prepared to fight FCC interference than they were last September, when Kimmel was taken off the air for nearly a week after he made comments about the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Earlier this year, the FCC began investigating The View after the agency’s Trump-appointed chairman Brendan Carr alleged that the talk show had violated the “equal time rule” governing airtime for political candidates by interviewing James Talarico, a Democrat running for a U.S. Senate seat in Texas.

In a newly filed response to that investigation, lawyers for ABC and their Texas affiliate KTRK wrote that the FCC’s actions are “counterproductive to the Commission’s stated goal of encouraging free speech and open political discussion.”

Judge rules Trump administration's cancellation of humanities grants was unconstitutional

In the filing, ABC argue that The View is exempt from the “equal time rule” as it is a “bona fide news interview program.” It states that: “The Commission’s actions threaten to upend decades of settled law and practice and chill critical protected speech, both with respect to The View and more broadly.”

White House calls Mark Hamill ‘sick individual’ for AI image of Trump in a grave

ABC’s decision to push back against the FCC has been backed up by free speech advocates. In a statement to The Independent, Seth Stern of the Freedom of the Press Foundation said: “We commend ABC for standing up for itself and the First Amendment. The legal theories the FCC asserts against broadcast licensees are frivolous and unconstitutional, and FCC Chair Brendan Carr knows it, but he hopes broadcast licensees will nonetheless self-censor rather than pick a fight.”

Similarly, Jessica J. González of advocacy group Free Press said: “I’m pleased that ABC has finally learned that bullies don’t stop when companies cower in a corner. The FCC chairman has blatantly and repeatedly abused his power to silence speech that displeases Trump. This doesn’t just violate the First Amendment rights of broadcasters on the receiving end of Brendan Carr’s tactics; it also harms the broadcasters’ audiences.

“Chairman Carr’s overreach is startling and unpopular across the political spectrum. After Donald and Melania Trump demanded that ABC fire Jimmy Kimmel for making a joke they didn’t like, Carr announced that he would conduct an early review of ABC’s broadcast licenses — an abuse of power that Senator Ted Cruz and people of all political stripes condemned,” González said.

“I urge ABC and its parent company Disney to continue fighting for free speech. Doing anything less deprives audiences of the diversity of viewpoints that are critical to the health of a democracy.”

ABC’s broadcast licenses were not due to expire until 2028. An FCC filing indicated that the early renewal request is related to a previous investigation into the company’s DEI practices.

However, the decision came shortly after the FCC received a complaint against late night host Kimmel following his joke suggesting that the First Lady had the glow of an “expectant widow.” Days after the sketch aired, a gunman attempted to storm Saturday night’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

ATTACHMENT TEN – FROM THE NEW REPUBLIC

LONE FCC DEMOCRAT SENDS OMINOUS WARNING TO DISNEY ON TRUMP’S END GOAL

The Federal Communications Commission is targeting Disney on purpose, the only Democrat left on the agency’s board says.

The only Democratic commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission is warning Disney that the Trump administration is trying to censor ABC.

On Monday, Anna Gomez sent a letter to Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro warning that the TV network is under a “sustained, coordinated campaign of censorship and control” from the White House, The Wall Street Journal reports. She added that FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr has weaponized the agency to pressure “a free and independent press and all media into submission.”

Gomez’s letter said that the FCC’s recent demand that Disney apply to renew broadcast licenses for eight of the local TV stations it owns, its probe into the ABC talk show The View, and its decision to reopen a complaint into how ABC moderated a 2024 presidential debate between Trump and Kamala Harris were “not a series of coincidental regulatory actions.”

Under Carr, the FCC has also taken action against late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel for making jokes about Charlie Kirk, the president, and first lady Melania Trump, which even forced Kimmel off the air for days last year. 

“The goal was clear: use regulatory pressure to force his removal from the air and send a message to every other broadcaster about the cost of critical coverage,” Gomez wrote in her letter. 

The FCC has been after Disney and ABC, among many other TV networks, as part of Trump’s vendetta against media outlets that criticize him. In December 2024, ABC paid Trump a $16 million settlement after he sued the network for defamation, and Gomez pointed out how Trump redoubled his attacks in the following months after his second term as president began. 

“That settlement did not buy you peace,” Gomez wrote. She added that “you cannot buy this Administration’s favor. For the right price, you can only borrow it. And the price always goes up.” 

Gomez also wrote that she plans to use “every tool available to me as a Commissioner to shine a light on what this FCC is doing to curtail press freedom and to hold this process to account at every step.”

Last week, Disney accused the FCC of violating its First Amendment rights, in a legal filing. The network has hired an experienced Supreme Court litigator, Paul D. Clement, who served as solicitor general in the George W. Bush administration. This suggests that it plans to fight back against Trump’s attacks. Judging by Gomez’s letter, other news networks need to follow suit in order to protect America’s free press. 

ATTACHMENT ELEVEN – FROM FROM YAHOO/MS NOW

TRUMP CELEBRATED COLBERT GETTING FIRED. THEN HE SAID KIMMEL WAS NEXT. AN FCC COMMISSIONER JUST CALLED IT "CENSORSHIP AND CONTROL"

By Niel Randi Updated Mon, May 11, 2026 at 5:37 PM EDT

Stephen Colbert's last show airs May 21, nearly a year after CBS announced The Late Show would end. Back in July 2025, Donald Trump celebrated the cancellation on Truth Social with a sentence that read less like a joke than a warning to every late-night host still on the air.

"I absolutely love that Colbert got fired," Trump wrote. "His talent was even less than his ratings. I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next."

That was not exactly subtle. And even then, Kimmel was already in the middle of his own pressure campaign.

KIMMEL GOT THE SEQUEL

Three days before the White House Correspondents' Dinner in April, Kimmel made a joke on his show. Looking into the camera, he said: "Our first lady Melania is here. So beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow."

The joke aired before an armed suspect was accused of trying to attack the dinner. Melania Trump called Kimmel's remarks "hateful and violent" on X and urged ABC to act.

Trump followed by demanding that Kimmel be fired. In a separate Newsmax interview, he warned that "ABC is putting themselves in great jeopardy" by keeping Kimmel on air.

Then the FCC, led by Trump-appointed Chairman Brendan Carr, accelerated the review of Disney's eight ABC-owned station licenses. Those licenses were not scheduled for review until 2028. The FCC has not revoked a broadcast license in more than 40 years, which is why the timing did not read like routine paperwork. Democratic senators called the early review an "abuse of power" and asked Carr to explain whether he had communicated with White House officials beforehand. Carr has denied the move was retaliation, and Disney has said it complies with FCC regulations and is prepared to defend itself.

Kimmel is still on air. But the message to ABC was not exactly subtle either.

THE COLBERT TIMELINE STILL STINKS

CBS announced in July 2025 that The Late Show would end in May 2026. The official explanation was financial. The timeline made that explanation harder to swallow.

On a Monday, Colbert called Paramount's $16 million settlement with Trump over a 60 Minutes interview a "big fat bribe." That Thursday, CBS announced the show was ending. Paramount, CBS's parent company, was seeking federal approval for its Skydance merger at the same time. The merger was later approved. Trump celebrated Colbert's cancellation on Truth Social.

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David Letterman, who built The Late Show and handed it to Colbert in 2015, did not buy the financial explanation. In his telling, CBS's owners wanted to make the Skydance sale easier and threw Colbert's show into the bargain. Then he gave the cleaner version: "They're lying. They're lying weasels."

CBS called it a financial decision. Letterman called it what it looked like to him. The merger got approved either way.

ANNA GOMEZ PUT IT IN WRITING

On Monday, FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, the sole Democrat on the three-member commission, wrote a letter to Disney CEO Bob Iger that deserves to be read slowly.

"What Disney and ABC are facing is not a series of coincidental regulatory actions but a sustained, coordinated campaign of censorship and control," Gomez wrote. She accused the FCC of weaponizing its authority to pressure the press and media "into submission."

Then came the line Disney executives should probably tape to the conference room wall: "You are not the first target of this campaign, and you will not be the last."

The first target. The not-last target. Colbert. Kimmel. The pattern that a sitting government commissioner is now describing in writing.

COLBERT HAD ONE ANSWER FOR TRUMP

When Colbert returned to his show after Trump celebrated the cancellation on Truth Social, he addressed the president directly.

"How dare you, sir," Colbert said during his monologue. Then he offered a more compact review of Trump's post: "Go f*** yourself."

His final show airs May 21. In the run-up, fellow late-night hosts Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, and John Oliver are appearing with him. David Letterman is also scheduled to return to the show he created. Tom Hanks, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Pedro Pascal, and other stars are part of the farewell run.

Kimmel, meanwhile, is making his own gesture. His ABC show will air a rerun during Colbert's finale so he does not compete against the last Late Show broadcast. That is solidarity. It is also a reminder that late-night hosts understand exactly what Colbert's exit represents. They are not watching a colleague retire. They are watching a franchise disappear after its host mocked Trump's settlement.

Trump said Kimmel is next. A government commissioner says the campaign will not stop with Disney.

Colbert is leaving. Kimmel is still on air.

For now.

Broadcast giant ABC’s apparent efforts to kneel at President Donald Trump’s feet have not spared the network from his administration’s “sustained, coordinated campaign of censorship and control,” according to a Biden-appointed member of the Federal Communications Commission.

That’s the crux of a warning reportedly sent by FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez to Josh D’Amaro, the CEO of Disney, the parent company of ABC. The Wall Street Journal reported on the letter, which has not been independently confirmed by MS NOW.

The timing is noteworthy, as it comes days after ABC submitted a filing accusing the FCC of free speech violations for investigating “The View,” a popular talk show Trump has threatened to take off the air.

According to the Journal:

ABC has been a victim of a “sustained, coordinated campaign of censorship and control” by the Trump administration, Federal Communications Commissioner Anna Gomez told Josh D’Amaro, chief executive of Disney, the network’s parent company.

The FCC under Republican Chairman Brendan Carr has been weaponized to pressure “a free and independent press and all media into submission,” Gomez wrote in a letter sent to D’Amaro on Monday and viewed by The Wall Street Journal.

Carr, a co-author of the far-right playbook Project 2025, has hardly hidden his support for this kind of politicized pressure campaign. As examples of “winning” the president’s war against the press, he recently boasted about the defunding of PBS and the purchase of CBS by a Trump ally, as well as the departures of some high-profile journalists targeted by Trump. And last year, Carr himself issued a mafia-style threat against ABC in an effort to force talk show host Jimmy Kimmel off the air.

Now, the Trump administration, fueled by baseless claims that diversity programs and civil rights laws have hurt white people, is investigating ABC’s diversity practices.

In Gomez’s letter to Disney’s CEO, the FCC commissioner said Carr’s threat showed a clear intent to use “regulatory pressure” to force Kimmel’s removal and, thereby, intimidate other companies. And she argued that ABC’s controversial decision to settle a dubious, multimillion-dollar defamation lawsuit filed by Trump only fueled the administration’s authoritarian ambitions:

“That settlement did not buy you peace,” Gomez wrote, adding “you cannot buy this Administration’s favor. For the right price, you can only borrow it. And the price always goes up.”

In her letter, Gomez pledged to use “every tool available to me as a Commissioner to shine a light on what this FCC is doing to curtail press freedom and to hold this process to account at every step.”

Gomez’s letter — and ABC’s current predicament — buttress arguments made by authoritarianism experts such as author Timothy Snyder, who has warned institutions not to “obey in advance” and feed Trump’s seemingly insatiable hunger for power and compliance.

The post FCC member says her agency seeks authoritarian control of ABC appeared first on MS NOW.

This article was originally published on ms.now

ATTACHMENT TWELVE – FROM GUK

COLBERT ON MCDONALD’S SUPPLY CHAIN CONCERNS: ‘PERHAPS THIS WILL FINALLY SHOW TRUMP THE TRUE COST OF WAR’

Late-night hosts discussed Marco Rubio’s meeting with the pope, Trump bragging about his mental acuity and the ongoing ‘skirmish’ in Iran

By Guardian staff Fri 8 May 2026 10.24 EDT

Late-night hosts covered the ongoing war in Iran and how the Trump administration is refusing to focus on rising gas prices back in the US.

STEPHEN COLBERT

On The Late Show, Stephen Colbert told viewers it was day 69 of the war with Iran and despite Trump’s “one-page peace offer” it remains ongoing.

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Republicans are hoping to get a deal before the midterms with more than eight out of 10 Americans struggling to cope with rising gasoline prices. “The other two Americans couldn’t talk right now because they were busy sucking gas out of their neighbour’s Subaru,” he said.

The war is also affecting other supply chains with the McDonald’s CEO warning this week that it might affect the burger chain’s business. “Perhaps this will finally show Trump the true cost of war,” Colbert said before joking that without peace, he “could lose his 10-piece”.

Trump’s economic adviser Kevin Hassett played down rising costs by saying on television this week that credit card spending is through the roof. Colbert added that “bottle collection has become very popular” and so has the job of “bus station gigolo”.

The administration continues to find new words to call the war, with Trump this week calling it a “skirmish”. Colbert joked that “my uncle never came home from the Korean hullaballoo”.

This week also saw Trump sending Marco Rubio to meet the pope. Rubio was given a pen made from olive wood to represent peace while the pope was given a small crystal football. “I smell regift!” Colbert said.

After the recent exposé in the Atlantic which alleged the FBI director, Kash Patel, had a serious drinking problem, the FBI launched a criminal leak investigation to find the source. Colbert joked that after a few beers, Patel also says: “Yo, I gotta go take a criminal leak.”

In response, the original journalist published a follow-up about Kash Patel’s personalised bourbon stash. “She done doubled down!” Colbert said.

JIMMY KIMMEL

On Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the host also spoke about Rubio’s meeting at the Vatican “to patch up the off-again/off-again relationship” between Trump and the pope.

The president couldn’t go himself as when he enters a church “all the holy water starts to boil”.

Kimmel joked that the “pope mistook little Marco for a child and baptised him”.

He also spoke about the war in Iran that is not nearing an end, with Iran firing on American warships this week, something Trump called “a love tap”. He is “quite clearly anxious to manage expectations on this thing” and this week posted a strange chart that showed how the Iran war is so much shorter than other conflicts.

“I bet that’s not the only chart that shows his is the shortest,” Kimmel said.

He also spoke about the new Kash Patel story in the Atlantic revealing that the FBI director hands out personalised whiskey bottles as gifts. Kimmel said they were “short and filled with alcohol just like Kash himself”.

Kimmel also reminded viewers of “the Trump-Epstein files”, as he calls them, and that the Iran war was “cooked up to knock that out of the headlines”.

This week saw Lara Trump, the wife of Eric, praise her father-in-law and try to shift focus on to UFOs instead. “Kiss his ass all you want, Lara, he’s still gonna call you Laura at Thanksgiving dinner,” he said.

SETH MEYERS

On Late Night, Seth Meyers said that despite gas prices rising, Trump had been too busy “bragging about acing a dementia test”.

He said that despite having the “posture of the Michelin man”, Trump has been pushing the importance of physical and mental health.

Twice in the past week the president has spoken about nailing the cognitive test three times, bragging that no other president has taken it in the past. “Because no one else has had to!” Meyers said.

He said that despite all of the criticism aimed at Barack Obama, “no one ever thought: are we sure he can identify all three animals?”

He said it was “pretty alarming” that Trump has needed to take this test so much but that despite him clearly caring about mental health, his health secretary, RFK Jr, has made it harder for people to take antidepressants.

Meyers said he “probably just wants people to take cognitive tests to prove their sanity like Trump” and played footage of the president talking about all of the wild animals included in the questions.

He said that is “sounds like the menu at his favourite restaurant”, poking fun at RFK Jr’s odd comments in the past about animals.

This week also saw a “very important and very normal event” where Trump reintroduced the presidential fitness test to schoolchildren, which saw him do his much-ridiculed YMCA dance.

“That dance is the closest Trump has ever come to working out,” he said.

ATTACHMENT THIRTEEN – FROM FOX

KENNEDY DROPS THE HAMMER ON 'BEST BUDS' COLBERT AND OBAMA, SUGGESTS PAIR SHOULD 'GET A MOTEL ROOM'

The Louisiana senator also mocked Colbert's ratings, saying his show was losing CBS $40M a year

By Hanna Panreck Published May 7, 2026 7:00pm EDT

Obama has always been better at ‘pandering’ than ‘persuasion,’ Sen Kennedy says

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., discusses former President Barack Obama’s conversation with Stephen Colbert during which he criticized political prosecutions and praised NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani on ‘The Will Cain Show.’

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., unloaded on "best buds" Barack Obama and Stephen Colbert after their friendly sit-down aired on Tuesday and quipped during "The Will Cain Show" that the pair should get a "motel room."

Obama sat down for an interview with late-night comedian Stephen Colbert at his new Presidential Center in Chicago ahead of the comedian's show ending in mid-May. The former president made veiled critiques of President Donald Trump, praised New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, opined on the state of both political parties and suggested Colbert would be a better president than Trump.

"It's no news flash that President Obama does not like Republicans. It occurred to me that he might have been pandering to Mr. Colbert and his audience, all seven of them. President Obama has always been better at pandering than persuasion, that was my first thought," Kennedy told Cain.

"I also got a kick out of Mr. Colbert. He and President Obama are obviously best buds. Maybe they ought to get a motel room or something. They were just fawning all over each other. I don't have anything against Mr. Colbert. I've always thought that he was shallow as a puddle. Now, he doesn't believe that. He thinks he's one of the smartest people on the planet. If you don't take my word for it, ask him. His personal vanity has always been unshakable," he said.

OBAMA CHOOSES SUPPORTER STEPHEN COLBERT FOR DEBUT INTERVIEW AT CONTROVERSIAL PRESIDENTIAL CENTER

Kennedy then brought up Colbert's show cancellation.

"But his problem is not his vanity or his intelligence, it's his numbers. He was losing CBS $40 million a year because nobody was watching. So CBS told him to sit his 50-set a-- down, and they said, well, 'You're fired,'" Kennedy added.

Colbert's final show will be on May 16. CBS announced in 2025 that the show would be canceled at the end of the season, citing financial reasons.

Colbert hinted during a recent interview that while there does not appear to be definitive proof that his show was canceled for political reasons, he thinks it's the most likely explanation.

Despite acknowledging the traditional broadcast model was in trouble amid a changing media landscape, he suggested during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, "There are many people who believe there was another reason. And, as I said in the most measured tones I could muster, there is a reason why people believe that. The network had clearly already done it once by cutting that $16 million check [to the Trump administration]."

Both Cain and Kennedy expressed some surprise over Obama's praise of Mamdani. Kennedy said he thought Obama was a capitalist.

"I always thought President Obama was a capitalist. He certainly seems to have an affinity. For Mayor Mamdani, and Mayor Mamdani is a socialist. He calls himself a democratic socialist, but that's a socialist that believes in obtaining socialism through the ballot box. So that wouldn't surprise me," Kennedy said.

Obama and Colbert did not immediately return requests for comment.

ATTACHMENT FOURTEEN – FROM THE NY TIMES

WHAT DO WE LOSE WHEN ‘THE LATE SHOW’ GOES AWAY?

Our attachment to an institution may seem counterintuitive, especially with comedy, a rebellious art form. But with Stephen Colbert’s program, there was a lot at stake.

By Jason Zinoman May 5, 2026 Updated 10:39 a.m. ET

The final months of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” have followed a familiar script with a procession of celebrities getting a little sincere and paying tribute through sad songs and art projects.

John Lithgow read a celebratory poem titled “The Mighty Colbert.” Jake Tapper brought a painting of the host as a version of Gollum from “The Lord of the Rings,” a Colbert obsession. Nathan Lane sang a ballad called “Laughing Matters.” Jimmy Fallon and Billy Crystal each gave their spin on Sinatra standards.

Ever since Bette Midler made Johnny Carson sniffle with a farewell song, the long emotional goodbye has become its own late-night tradition, cloying to some, moving to others. It is enough of a recognizable trope to be a reminder that with CBS’s cancellation of “The Late Show,” we are losing not just Stephen Colbert, but also an institution. By the time of its May 21 finale, the program, believe it or not, will have been on the air longer than the Carson version of “The Tonight Show.”

With CBS’s new owners under pressure to appease an administration with the authority to approve their buyout, the network could have replaced the host, but instead it got rid of the entire show. For context, the president has been calling for the firing of the host of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” the other longtime 11:30 p.m. alternative to “The Tonight Show,” the grande dame of late night.

It’s become unfashionable to defend institutions. Polls tell us that no one trusts them, whether in the news media, academia or politics. And what they evoke (order, stability) is anathema to the irreverent sensibility of comedians.

Asked about the decline of late-night shows, the former host Arsenio Hall told me that things always change, and that he’d prefer “The Tonight Show” be canceled than fade into irrelevance. When Conan O’Brien quit that NBC show in 2010 over a network push to move its time slot, arguing that it was better to leave than “damage” the franchise, Jerry Seinfeld poked fun at the idea of a late-night tradition. “How do you not get that this whole thing is phony?” he told the journalist Bill Carter, adding that talk shows were about the hosts, nothing more. “There’s no institution to offend.”

I have long been sympathetic to Seinfeld’s position, comically exaggerated as it may have been. A healthy art form requires dynamism and new blood. No institution ever made me laugh. And yet, as “The Late Show” approaches its end, I find myself as sentimental as the guests singing melancholy melodies. What exactly are we losing with the end of “The Late Show”?

TO BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND, it’s helpful to return to the beginning. It was fall 1993, and the late-night talk show was more culturally relevant, I’d argue, than at any point in history. The year before, “The Larry Sanders Show,” a classic TV series that satirized the genre with meticulous insider detail, premiered on HBO and Bill Clinton was elected president, his electoral prospects helped by playing the saxophone on “The Arsenio Hall Show.” The genre loomed so large in popular culture that the competition among hosts was regularly and unironically referred to as a war.

“The Late Show” was born out of a beef. David Letterman and Jay Leno, who both were regulars at the Comedy Store in Hollywood in the 1970s, badly wanted to succeed Carson as host of “The Tonight Show.” And when Leno got the job, Letterman left his program, which aired at 12:30 a.m. after “The Tonight Show” on NBC, signed a huge contract and decamped for CBS to create what we now consider an institution, one that competed directly against Leno. It was the talk-show equivalent of an 18th-century gentleman peeling off his glove and throwing it at the feet of his rival.

With the diminished state of late night in today’s fragmented culture, it might be hard to understand the passion behind this competition between men in suits joking at desks. But make no mistake: It was the Kendrick Lamar-Drake drama of its day. Late-night hosts defined sensibilities and inspired toxic fandoms. Take me, for example: Back then, on the cusp of college, I assumed anyone who preferred Leno was not worth knowing. To paraphrase the critic Kenneth Tynan’s review of “Look Back in Anger,” I doubt I could love someone who didn’t enjoy Letterman. This helps explain my lack of girlfriends.

For a certain class of callow comedy aficionados, Leno represented a meat-and-potatoes mainstream standup and the bland establishment, while Letterman carried an irreverent aesthete appeal, an ironist who delighted in formal experimentation, mocking his bosses and the conventions of the talk show.

“The Late Show” meant an earlier time slot for Letterman, but it signaled something broader than that, a test of public taste, a chance for justice to be served, a cause to get behind. The ’90s were a simpler time. The first time I went to New York without my family, it was to attend the taping of its 10th episode. I made this pilgrimage because I wanted to see my favorite talk show but also — I cringe typing this — it felt important. What I recall is less the jokes or the performance by Robert Plant so much as the hothouse atmosphere. The line outside had the feel of a Taylor Swift concert. The crowd responded to every joke at a fever pitch. I was surrounded by fellow true believers.

STEPHEN COLBERT IS a very different performer from Letterman, but when he got the job as Letterman’s successor at “The Late Show,” it represented a kind of continuity. He also inspired comedy-nerd passion and stood out as a performer with ambition. Letterman put on what was considered an anti-talk show, a stark contrast to “The Tonight Show,” even down to putting the desk on the opposite side of the stage. Colbert had done something similar at Comedy Central: he followed the righteous voice of “The Daily Show” with a coolly virtuosic spoof, “The Colbert Report.” Like Letterman, he reinvented a form by mastering the art of saying the opposite of what he meant.

Since it was built in opposition to its NBC rival, “The Late Show” was both an institution and anti-institutional. Colbert kept that dual spirit alive. Colbert put on a more traditional show than “The Colbert Report” but found eccentric ways for “The Late Show” to express his personality, whether that be his habit of reciting poems by heart to movie stars, his loving interview with Stephen Sondheim or a monologue delivered from his bathtub.

The most obvious way “Late Show” remained counterprogramming involved current events: while “The Tonight Show,” led by Jimmy Fallon since 2014, has aimed for light apolitical fare, Colbert has responded to our moment by becoming forceful in his comic attacks on President Trump. The cancellation of Colbert’s show right before a deal that needed government approval has given his exit an additional resonance. In recent months, Colbert has leaned into Democratic political guests like James Talarico, Elizabeth Warren and (on May 5) Barack Obama.

Talk-show hosts like Letterman have always made fun of presidents, network executives, bosses. Some think Colbert became too partisan and predictable to be funny, but even if true, this was an attempt to not just engage with our politicized era, but also to fill the role of topical host. In a recent GQ interview, Colbert said he was more conservative than people think. I believe him.

The case for institutions is usually framed as preserving stability, reliability and other virtues that clash with what audiences want from comedy. But sometimes you need the stodgy power of institutions in service of irreverent art. They allow artists to reach new audiences and take risks they wouldn’t otherwise.

Among television comedy institutions, “The Daily Show” has proved to be a sturdy format that can support and boost many different hosts and correspondents. Then there’s “Saturday Night Live,” whose success can be attributed to its ability to reinvent itself while preserving an essential DNA. Morgan Neville’s new documentary, “Lorne,” makes the argument that the “S.N.L.” producer Lorne Michaels has protected artists in ways that will be difficult when he is gone. As evidence, the shows that Michaels produces (“S.N.L.,” “Late Night With Seth Meyers” and “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon”) haven’t even appeared to buckle to political pressure unlike the programs on ABC and CBS.

CBS claimed it canceled “The Late Show” for financial reasons, and it’s true that it was a more expensive production than Letterman’s version, let alone the bare-bones podcasts of today. The huge amounts of attention and fervor created by the drama between Leno and Letterman that gave birth to “The Late Show” helped justify the scale and budgets of late-night television. When Letterman moved to CBS, he put on a less scrappy, more costly show, which decades later made it more vulnerable to bean-counting budget-cutters. The future of late-night will look more like a video podcast, and it’s hard to imagine the big-show aspect returning.

Look at the replacement. Byron Allen’s “Comics Unleashed” is as cheaply made as possible. It’s a panel of stand-ups peddling their jokes. CBS didn’t program this show. It leased the time slot to Allen, who is in charge of selling his own ads. This is the most low-risk, low-reward option the network could have taken. It can’t lose money or make much cultural noise with “Comics Unleashed.” Norm Macdonald once described appearing on the show this way: “You could not have been more leashed.”

When I asked Letterman about the end of his show, he sounded concerned about Colbert but initially cleareyed about change. The institution he created mattered less to him than the people. “It’s always the person, the personality, and then everything else,” he told me by phone, adding that he followed in the footsteps of others on CBS like Merv Griffin. And yet, when asked if he could imagine the end of “The Tonight Show” on NBC, he reacted quickly. “Absolutely not,” he said.

Letterman was a teenager when Carson started hosting “The Tonight Show,” around the same age I was when I started watching Letterman. Perhaps the power of a long-running show is that your connection to it evolves over time — and if that attachment began in childhood, it is more likely to endure.

There’s clearly an emotional connection that fans have to longtime showbiz institutions, but is it only that? The debate over whether Colbert was canceled for business or political reasons gives short shrift to the technological explanation. I don’t just mean how the internet added competition or incentivized virality over ratings. The ideology of Silicon Valley, the source of the fortune that bought CBS, is rooted in a faith in disruption.

But the theory of moving fast and breaking things can be reckless as well as contrary to sound business logic. Holding onto tradition can actually be far more hardheaded, relying on the value of nostalgia and brand names. Moreover, if there’s one thing we’ve learned over the past few decades of digital revolution, it’s that institutions are much easier to destroy than build.

Jason Zinoman is a critic at large for the Culture section of The Times and writes a column about comedy.

News and Analysis About the Media

· McClatchy: The newspaper chain behind publications including The Sacramento Bee, The Miami Herald and The Idaho Statesman has started to use a new artificial intelligence tool that can summarize traditional articles and spit out different versions for different audiences. Its reporters aren’t happy about it.

· ABC: Federal regulators ordered a review of all station licenses owned by ABC, an extraordinary move to pressure a major television network whose programming has frequently angered President Trump. The Trumps have demanded that ABC pull the comedian Jimmy Kimmel from its airwaves.

· Infowars: The Onion, a satirical news outlet, plans to license the website founded by the right-wing conspiracist Alex Jones. The deal, which would allow The Onion to use the Infowars name and website address, must be approved by a Texas judge.

· Nexstar-Tegna Merger: The judge said the two television companies could not combine operations while an antitrust lawsuit proceeded. Nexstar said its deal was already done.

· Condé Nast: Self magazine will shut down after nearly 50 years, the chief executive of Condé Nast said. The publishing giant is also closing the international editions of Glamour Magazine in Germany, Spain and Mexico.

ATTACHMENT FIFTEEN – FROM THE NY TIMES

DAVID LETTERMAN ON ‘THE LATE SHOW’ ENDING AND CBS’S NEW OWNERS

He no longer feels a sense of ownership, but the program’s former host has harsh words for the network.

By Jason Zinoman May 5, 2026 Updated 10:38 a.m. ET

For an essay on the end of “The Late Show” on CBS, I spoke to its first host, David Letterman, who was cleareyed about the program’s cancellation. Here are edited excerpts from our conversation:

What was your first thought when you found out “The Late Show,” which you helped create and where you served as the first host, was canceled?

Disbelief. Then it seemed like a botched holdup. When we got the facts about the Ellison family [David Ellison, with backing from his father, Larry, bought CBS’s parent company, Paramount Global], I took great delight in referring to the principal as the Ellison Twins. I was later corrected and told it’s just one guy. I didn’t care and I still refer to him as twins. There’s also the old man, Larry. Is it in fact Larry?

Yes.

As best I understand it, he invented the Slinky. (Not so, naval engineer Richard T. James invented it in 1983 – DJI) And the Ellison twins are willy-nilly spending the old man’s money. So that was what ran through my head. Then I wondered: What the hell have they done to Stephen [Colbert]? And I would say farther down on the list is your point: Wait a minute, this used to be my show. It’s like driving by your old neighborhood and realizing that where you used to live, they’re putting up an adult bookstore.

Are you far enough away from hosting “The Late Show” that you don’t feel a sense of ownership anymore?

Yes. Time has separated me from the genealogy of the show. On the other hand, if there’s outrage to be directed at management, either real or imagined, I’m all in. Let’s go.

CBS says it canceled “The Late Show” because of financial reasons. Do you believe that?

They don’t share the books with me. All of television seems to have been nicked by digital communication and streaming platforms and on and on. TV may be not the money machine it once was. On the other hand, what about the humanity for Stephen and the humanity of people who love him and the humanity for people who still enjoyed that 11:30 respite?

Jason Zinoman is a critic at large for the Culture section of The Times and writes a column about comedy.

ATTACHMENT SIXTEEN – FROM USA TODAY

WHEN IS STEPHEN COLBERT’S LAST SHOW? WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT FINAL 'LATE SHOW'

by Taylor Ardrey May 11, 2026, 11:08 a.m. ET

Who produces the replacement shows for Colbert's time slot?

What caused the end of 'The Late Show' on CBS?

What is Stephen Colbert's next project after 'The Late Show'?

Stephen Colbert’s ‘The Late Show’ will air its final episode on Thursday, May 21, 2026, ending his five‑year run on CBS. The network will replace the hour‑long program with Byron Allen’s ‘Comics Unleashed’ followed by the comedy game show ‘Funny You Should Ask.’

A shakeup to CBS's late-night programming is underway.

Last summer, Stephen Colbert shocked fans with the news that his show would sunset in May 2026. In a statement, Paramount said that the host is "irreplaceable," noting the move was "purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night."

In April, the network announced the replacement of "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert."

Here's what we know about the show's final date and what to expect next.

WHEN WILL 'THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT' END?

"The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" will end on Thursday, May 21.

WHO WILL FILL COLBERT'S TIME SLOT?

Prominent producer Byron Allen is set to take over Colbert's time slot at 11:35 p.m. ET with back-to-back half-hour episodes of "Comics Unleashed." It will be followed by the comedy game show "Funny You Should Ask" at 12:37 a.m.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter published last week, Colbert reacted to the news.

"God bless him. I know Byron. We got to know each other last year, actually. He's fascinating. You know his history with Carson?" Colbert told the outlet, referring to the fact that Allen became the youngest comic to perform on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" when he was 18. (See Below)

"Anyway, when I found out, I wrote him the next morning and I said, “Hey, congrats. I heard you got the time. Good for you. Wouldn’t it be lovely if you could drop Mr. Carson a note?” Colbert joked. Carson, who hosted "The Tonight Show" from 1962 to 1992, died in 2005.

When Colbert was asked how he felt about "The Late Show" not being replaced by a traditional late-night show, he said simply, "It's none of my business."

ATTACHMENT SEVENTEEN – FROM USA TODAY

STEPHEN COLBERT REACTS TO CBS' REPLACEMENT FOR 'THE LATE SHOW'

By Brendan Morrow Updated May 7, 2026, 1:55 p.m. ET

Stephen Colbert talked about CBS replacing his show with Byron Allen's "Comics Unleashed," noting he sent Allen a congratulatory note, explaining the financial reasons for the switch, and outlining his upcoming projects such as a new Lord of the Rings film.

Stephen Colbert is revealing he sent a note of congratulations to Byron Allen after CBS announced that "The Late Show" will be replaced by the producer's show "Comics Unleashed."

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter published May 6, the late-night host reacted to news that "Comics Unleashed," a comedy talk show created by Allen, will take over the 11:35 p.m. time slot on CBS immediately after "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" ends later this month.

"God bless him. I know Byron. We got to know each other last year, actually. He's fascinating. You know his history with Carson?" Colbert told the outlet, referring to the fact that Allen became the youngest comic to perform on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" when he was 18.

"Anyway, when I found out, I wrote him the next morning and I said, 'Hey, congrats. I heard you got the time. Good for you. Wouldn't it be lovely if you could drop Mr. Carson a note?'" Colbert joked. Carson, who hosted "The Tonight Show" from 1962 to 1992, died in 2005.

But when The Hollywood Reporter asked Colbert how he feels about "The Late Show" not being replaced by a traditional late-night show, he said simply, "It's none of my business."

CBS canceled "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" in July 2025, describing the move as a "financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night." In April, the network confirmed Colbert's time slot will be filled by "Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen." The show, which began in 2006, features a rotating series of comedians performing their material in a panel format. "Comics Unleashed" has already been airing on CBS after "The Late Show."

CBS is leasing the time slot to Allen, who noted to The Los Angeles Times last year the economics of "Comics Unleashed" are appealing to the network because he covers the production costs. "It's not cheaper," he told the Los Angeles Times. "It's zero." In April, Paramount TV Media chair George Cheeks told reporters CBS is still developing other late-night ideas, but the one-year deal with Allen allows the network "to go into immediate profitability in that slot," according to Variety.

COLBERT REVEALS 'WHITE WHALE' GUEST, ADDRESSES UNHAPPY 'LORD OF THE RINGS' FANS

Other topics covered in Colbert's Hollywood Reporter interview included the one guest he has wanted to have on "The Late Show" more than any other: Pope Leo XIV. "The pope is my white whale," he said, adding that he even wrote a letter to the pope asking him, "Would you please come on my show? We don't have to talk about politics."

Who is Byron Allen? High-powered producer to take over CBS late-night

Colbert also touched on a project he has lined up for after "The Late Show" ends: Writing a new film in the "Lord of the Rings" series. He is working on the script with his screenwriter son, as well as Philippa Boyens, who cowrote all the entries in both the "Lord of the Rings" and "Hobbit" trilogies.

The Hollywood Reporter asked Colbert to respond to "Lord of the Rings" devotees who are displeased by his hiring and feel he only got the job because he is a famous fan of the franchise.

"There's no value in me addressing that because all you can do as — I'll use a loaded term here — an artist is follow your heart and the craft that you have learned to try to turn this into something that is not fandom but drama," Colbert said. "And luckily, I don't have to do this alone. I have a great Sherpa in Philippa Boyens, who cares about it in the same way I do. And I will just say that every moment has been a joy so far."

Colbert is now in his final stretch of "Late Show" episodes, with the finale scheduled to air on May 21. "Comics Unleashed" will immediately take over the slot on CBS beginning the next day. Colbert has not revealed details about his last show, but he has been going all-out in recent weeks with guests including Oprah Winfrey and former President Barack Obama.

ATTACHMENT EIGHTEEN – FROM ROLLING STONE

JIMMY KIMMEL TO AIR RERUN DURING STEPHEN COLBERT’S FINAL EPISODE OF ‘THE LATE SHOW’

The late-night institution, which Colbert took over in 2015, will air its last episode on May 21

By Jon Blistein May 11, 2026

Jimmy Kimmel Live! will air a rerun next Thursday, May 21, reportedly out of respect for Stephen Colbert, who will be hosting the final episode of The Late Show that night. 

Kimmel confirmed the decision to Late Nighter, though reps for his show did not immediately return a request for further comment. The Late Show airs in the 11:30 p.m. time slot; with Kimmel going dark in the live realm for the night, Colbert’s only competition will be The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. 

Colbert has hosted The Late Show for 11 years, taking over the show from David Letterman in 2015. While the show has long been one of the most-watched programs in late-night, and earned numerous accolades, including an Emmy and a Peabody Award, CBS decided to cancel the show last July.

At the time, the network said it was a “purely financial decision,” adding, “It is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.” Those “other matters” likely referred to the then-ongoing efforts at Paramount (CBS’ parent company) to complete a merger with David Ellison’s Skydance. Considering Colbert was a frequent critic of President Donald Trump, many alleged that CBS’ decision to cancel The Late Show was part of a wider effort to appease the Trump administration, which still had to approve the merger. 

In the world of late-night TV, Kimmel and Colbert have long been more friends than rivals. But the two seemed even more bonded after Colbert’s cancellation and Kimmel’s scrap with the Trump admin over a joke about the man accused of killing Charlie Kirk. Last fall, in the aftermath of both events, the two appeared on each other’s shows, using the opportunities to reflect on the chaos engulfing late-night TV. 

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At one point, Colbert asked Kimmel if his younger self could have imagined the President of the United States “celebrating” his brief unemployment. 

“No, I never imagined that we’d ever have a president like this, and I hope we don’t ever have another president like this again,” Kimmel replied. “I never even imagined there would ever be a situation in which the president of our country was celebrating hundreds of Americans losing their jobs. But somebody who took pleasure in that — that to me is the absolute opposite of what a leader of this country is supposed to be.”

ATTACHMENT NINETEEN – FROM THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

THE STEPHEN COLBERT EXIT INTERVIEW: “I DID NOT EXPECT IT TO END THIS WAY”

As ‘The Late Show’ nears its final bow, the host opens up about the cancellation that shocked the industry, the win of going out as a “martyr” and his next act in Middle-earth.

By Lacey Rose May 6, 2026

When Stephen Colbert landed The Late Show in 2015, he received two notable calls. One from David Letterman, whom he’d be replacing; the other from Letterman’s rival, former Tonight Show host Jay Leno.

“Jay called me right away, and he was lovely,” says Colbert, as he slips into a Leno impression: “He goes, ‘Yeah, you got the pope job. You got the job ’til you’re dead.’ Well, you were wrong on that one, Jay.”

Last July, Colbert looked straight to camera and announced that his 11th season of The Late Show would be his last. CBS, whose parent company, Paramount, was in the midst of closing a multibillion-dollar merger with David Ellison’s Skydance that required the Trump administration’s approval, insisted it was “purely a financial decision.” But the choice to cancel the No. 1 show in late night raised more than a few eyebrows, particularly as it came just two weeks after Paramount had agreed to pay Trump $16 million to settle a controversial lawsuit over a 60 Minutes interview.

Stephen Colbert's 'Late Show' Sendoff: David Letterman and all the Other Late Night Hosts to Appear Next Week Ahead of Final Show

In the 10 months since, Colbert has not held back, regularly jabbing his network, its new owners’ cozy relationship with the president and reports that his show was hemorrhaging $40 million a year. Being able to be brutally honest about all of it was part of the arrangement he made with his bosses last summer. He has also continued to mercilessly critique Trump on a nightly basis.

If there is a silver lining to Colbert’s unexpected ouster, it’s that he is now able to be intimately involved in co-writing an installment of the Lord of the Rings film franchise. The project is already six years in the making and a lifelong dream for the self-proclaimed superfan. And though he isn’t ready to sign on to any other projects just yet, he began fielding scripts immediately after he announced his Late Show chapter would conclude. He says he could see “creating another show,” too, and that his desire to perform will always be there. He jokes: “Got to stay in front of the lens, baby.”

On an April afternoon in New York City, Colbert settled in for the first of two wide-ranging conversations about his surprise cancellation, his late night fraternity, his Hollywood future and the real reason his studio audience is told, in no uncertain terms, not to boo Trump. 

You sign off May 21. What will the 22nd look like?

My brother is getting married, so my whole family is going to be here on the 21st, and then we’re all going to get on the train and go to D.C. for the wedding. So, immediately after the show’s over, there’s something much more important going on. And there’s something much more important going on the Monday before, too. My son is graduating from college. Then there’s a little blip in the middle where my 20-year late night career comes to an end. The universe has conspired to give me the proper perspective.

Your manager, James “Babydoll” Dixon, delivered the news of your cancellation last summer. How did you respond?

James never visits in person, and they’re like, “James wants to talk to you.” I’m like, “He’s here? In person? What’s going on?” And he says, “This is going to be the last season.” So, I sat up and said, “Really? Huh? Well, this comes as a surprise.” And he goes, “I can imagine so. They said it’s not making any money.” I’m like, “OK. I mean, it’s their business.” I’m a company man, and I understand that people are here to make the green stuff. We’re not here to do freeform polyrhythmic jazz poetry. We’re here to sell some Breathe Right strips, and I have no qualms about that. And they’ve been great partners. But I went, “I don’t understand. It hasn’t been two years since I signed my last contract, and they were feverish to lock me down. It was the best negotiation we’ve ever had. I only do 160 shows now, all that kind of stuff.” Baby said, “They say they could show me the numbers if we want,” but I’m not going to ask them to open books. I’m not here to talk anybody into me.

You’ve joked about the reports that suggest the show’s been hemorrhaging money, losing $40 million a year.

I think we killed people.

So, that‘s where the money went?

Yeah, just for sport, I’ve been bludgeoning drifters.

In all seriousness, does that figure sound accurate?

Um, it came as a surprise. Listen, there’s no denying that the broadcast model is in huge trouble. But our model [late night] within that overall model has been very profitable for, like, 70 years, starting with Steve Allen. But maybe we were the first show to then be a detriment. Maybe we were the first one to flip in the other direction. I do not wish to litigate it. It’s their shop, and they can do what they want.

Fair enough.

I am grateful for the time I’ve spent here. I will just say, as I said to Baby 18 months ago, they could not nail me to this building hard enough. But maybe everything changed after the strike, and if that’s the case, I accept that entirely. There are many people who believe there was another reason. And, as I said in the most measured tones I could muster, there is a reason why people believe that — the network had clearly already done it once by cutting that $16 million check [to the Trump administration].

Me being canceled reinforced a narrative that CBS already had a nimbus of knee-bending that they had created around themselves, because even their lawyers said there was no reason to cut the check, and then they did and gave no rationale for why they changed their minds, and then suddenly they got their broadcast license.

Causality is not the same thing as correlation, and I understand that — and not just because I learned it from the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, which reminded us that, yes, you smoked and you got cancer, but, you know, correlation is not causality. So maybe my cancellation was just a naturally occurring tumor that just had to be cut out of the corporation. I mean, that’s entirely possible. I would also say — and this is what feels most true to me — that two things can be true. It can be that the broadcast model is collapsing, and, while we’re at it, as long as we’re collapsing here, what if we shove this one out a window first? I mean, this lamb’s got a very cuttable throat.

Your boss, Paramount’s George Cheeks, delivered the news not to you but to your manager, which didn’t sit well with you. Did you ultimately have a conversation of your own?

He called me eventually.

What did that call look like?

I don’t think George would mind if I characterized our conversation. It was later in the summer, and he called to express that he wished [it] had gone down a different way. I said, “Me too.” And then I said, “I’m not over here grinding a knife, but we are going to make jokes about how this went down and about the $40 million and about CBS’ apparent check-cutting spree to the president. That’s the show I want to do for 10 more months because I like working for CBS and I’m not going to change that relationship between now and the end if you allow that to happen.” And he said, “I promise you that’s what will happen.” So that was it. And what’s the use of being mad? All I want to do is go have fun for an audience that appreciates it, and that’s what my goal has been for 10 months. When this is all over, I will probably have a different — or rather a fuller — perspective on all of this, but I don’t really have time to be mad about anything right now.

Has there been any outreach from David Ellison since the Paramount-Skydance merger closed in August 2025?

No.

So, you have no relationship with the current CEO?

No, I mean, I’ve spoken to the guy, and I hear great things about him. I have many friends who [said to me during the early merger talks,] “You guys will be lucky if it’s David Ellison because he actually cares about making stuff and he wants the talent to be happy.” And I really looked forward to having that conversation with him and saying, “Hey, I hear great things about you. I hope we can have a great time together.” I never got to have that conversation. But I’ve had a conversation with the guy.

What did your conversation with him entail?

I have a cloud-based script software company called Scripto, and I’d read an article where [Ellison] said, “I want to create a studio in the cloud.” And I went, “You know what? No one knows [our software] exists because basically it’s us and our friends who use it. SNL uses it, The Daily Show, [John] Oliver — there’s maybe a dozen shows. So, I said, “Baby, see if you can get me a call with him and please tell him it’s not [about The Late Show].” And he took the call, which is very nice.

Seems cordial.

Well, vendettas just sound exhausting, and I have no reason to have one. We’re all big boys. I got to do this for 21 years. What is there to complain about, really? I knew that the show had to end at some time. I did not expect it to end this way. But my staff are the only people I’m worried about.

You also get to go out as a kind of martyr, which you joked about when Kimmel looked to be another casualty last fall.

Oh yeah. I was like, “Hey, there’s only room for one person on this cross, buddy!”

You’ve announced your next act: a Lord of the Rings film. Naturally, there’s a contingent of the LOTR fan community that’s miffed: “Why does Stephen get to write this? Just because he’s famous and a superfan?” Tell them why they should trust you.

I mean, there’s no reason to. And there’s no value in me addressing that because all you can do as — I’ll use a loaded term here — an artist is follow your heart and the craft that you have learned to try to turn this into something that is not fandom but drama. And luckily, I don’t have to do this alone. I have a great Sherpa in [co-writer and LOTR veteran] Philippa Boyens, who cares about it in the same way I do. And I will just say that every moment has been a joy so far.

You’ve said a few times that you’re about to “reenter show business.” Have you been approached with scripts?

Yes, immediately. And listen, people have been patient because I’ve had to say, like, “I’m sorry, when I no longer have to think about this show all the time, I’ll have a better idea of what I want to do.” But it’s been very nice.

I assume that you’ve had conversations with Conan O’Brien and Jon Stewart about what life after late night looks like. OK, why are you laughing?

Because I’ve been having those conversations with them for a long time. Jon Stewart’s like, “You like ice skating, but you know how great it feels when you take the ice skates off? It kind of feels like that.” And for years, Conan’s been like, “I’m telling you, there’s so much other fun to have.” [To the point where] I’ve been like, “Do you not like my show?”

Conan has since built his own empire — podcasts, a travel show, some acting. And Jon ultimately went back to The Daily Show. Those are two very different paths and probably very different perspectives.

Yeah, and I don’t think I will do either one of those.

If you could have gone out on your own terms, what would it have looked like?

I mean, a lot like this — I’d just be a little older. And it would have been my choice, and I probably would have known what the final show was going to be a little bit earlier. On The Colbert Report, I picked that day — I didn’t tell anybody, but I knew two years ahead of time. Well, we didn’t pick this day. We know what it’ll be now, but it took a few months. But maybe they gave me a gift because I had a lot of jokes I could make about the end of the show, and if I’d decided to end the show, then I’m the bad guy — hard to make jokes about that.

Any guests who you’re still desperate to have on?

The pope is my white whale. I wrote him. I said, “Come on!” No, I said, “Your Holiness, I hope this letter finds you well or, at the very least, infallible. Would you please come on my show? We don’t have to talk about politics.” Because I didn’t really think he’d want to talk about politics or anything like that. Little did I know that the guy could throw a punch [as he recently proved feuding with Trump over the Iran war]. I said, “Let’s talk about being an American Catholic.” Now, if the pope goes on Kimmel [instead], I’m going to think hard about the Presbyterian church. That’s all I’m saying.

What would your Colbert Report character look like if he were revived to satirize 2026?

I really don’t know. It was very early on in this show that I was glad I didn’t do him anymore. I mean, he came back a couple times. He showed up to praise the cancellation of Kimmel. How long was the long national nightmare of no Kimmel? Like, three days? And yet the republic rolled on, Jimmy, can you believe it? Wait, what was the question?

What would he look like today?

Oh, yeah, I’ve been very glad I hadn’t been doing him because even when I did him a decade ago, he had to somehow leapfrog the mendacity of the public discourse. And I don’t think I can jump that far [today], and I have zero desire. And who would you be? Would you be Alex Jones? Who’s the most extreme?

Leno left late night and added more dates on the road. Trevor Noah did the same. Does that space hold any appeal?

I didn’t come up as a stand-up. Improv is collaborative in its nature, and all the shows that I’ve done have been collaborative. It doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t do a live show at some point, but it’s not like I’m going to go out tomorrow and do a tight 10 at Zanies [Comedy Club]. That hasn’t been my life, and it would be a big thing for me to do now. I could see creating a show. But I don’t know what form it would take. I’m still doing this show.

Meanwhile, The Late Show is being replaced by Byron Allen‘s Comics Unleashed.

God bless him. I know Byron. We got to know each other last year, actually. He’s fascinating. You know his history with Carson? [At 18, Allen became the youngest comedian ever to perform on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.] Anyway, when I found out, I wrote him the next morning and I said, “Hey, congrats. I heard you got the time. Good for you. Wouldn’t it be lovely if you could drop Mr. Carson a note?”

Is it better or worse than being replaced by another traditional late night comedy show?

It’s none of my business.

How worried are you about the future of the genre?

I don’t know what it’s going to be, and I don’t know what I can do to help other than what I did the last 11 years. But one night I’ll turn on the TV and probably no one will be there.

What kind of conversations have you had with Seth Meyers and the Jimmys on the subject?

When I got canceled, the only other people I spoke to for days were those guys. I came up to my office [after making the announcement on-air] and flipped open my phone and we did a quick exchange. My favorite was Kimmel, who just said, “That’s a hell of an Emmy campaign.” I said, “Busted.” And then I think they might have laid bets on who was next. The other text I got was from Jon Stewart, like, “Whaaaaat?” I’m like, “Right back at you, buddy.” And then I closed my phone and gave it to my wife, Evie, and said, “Please don’t let me have this for several days.”

I was at a recent taping of your show, and, before you came out, your stage manager instructs your audience not to boo Trump. What’s that about?

We don’t always remember to do that, but I always want them to because we’re here to harvest laughter. It’s like Obama used to say, “Don’t boo, vote.” I’m like, “Don’t boo, laugh.” That’s what I’m here for. Booing sounds like we’re cheering for sides; I’m pointing and laughing. It’s a different beast. But you don’t always have to [tell them not to boo]. Not that my audience is a perfect cross section, but they’re somewhat reflective of what the national mood is, and the more outrageous or unsettling the president’s behavior is, the more likely you are to get boos. It also just bothers me because it steps on setups and punchlines.

People presume that you’re this lefty figure, but you’re actually more conservative than people think. Do you agree?

I do not perceive myself as some sort of bomb-throwing, left-wing radical. I wear khaki pants and button-down shirts, and I go to church on Sunday and I taught [Sunday school], and I live in a suburban Center Hall colonial and I believe in institutions and in the essential greatness of America. If I ever had a chance, I’d ask the president, “What do you mean by great?” Because there was so much greatness that was awaiting him if he had actually just acknowledged it. Instead, he decided to rewrite things in his own image.

But yeah, I’m a moderate, suburban Catholic, but people perceive me as this liberal thing when in fact what presents itself as modern conservatism [today] is actually radical behavior. I believe that what purports to be the present conservative movement is actually engaged in constant heresy against reality. Just wish-casting a world to exist that doesn’t, which is very destructive. That’s like alcoholism. That’s reaching for a drug that’s really a poison all the time in order to give you the worldview that you hope. And then worse than that, imposing that on other people and denying their reality.

The last time you appeared on the cover of THR, Trump was newly in office and The Late Show had just found its groove. But it had taken a long, ugly year to get to that place. In fact, then-CBS CEO Leslie Moonves had said in that piece: “Was I concerned? Of course.” How concerned were you?

I was very anxious. I had walked away from an entirely argumentative show [The Colbert Report] where everything was an argument that [the character I played] had to win, and behind it was a desperate need to be loved, and I wanted to disengage with that game in the new place. And we were also really waved off from having a strong opinion by CBS. They wanted us to get to the guests right away. They didn’t want me to do a lot of topical stuff. They wanted differentiation from the old show. And listen, they were giving the best advice they could, and we didn’t have a strong enough opinion about what we wanted to do because we had this double bind. We had to replace two shows. We had to replace Dave and we had to replace me, the false me — and then they charged higher ad rates because they anticipated I would be No. 1 immediately and by far. Then they were like, “Hey, we’re going to have to do give-backs on this.” I was like, “I’m not the one who told you to charge more. I never said I’d be No. 1.”

What do you hope your Late Show legacy will be?

I want to be remembered as a comedy show. We harvest laughter for a living, and ultimately that’s the thing I want more than anything else. I just want to make the audience laugh.

Are you responding to those who argue the late night shows have become more agenda-based and, thus, less funny?

Now I will! No, I was having this argument with myself about maintaining the joke 25 years ago. And it’s important to never forget that your standard is the joke. We’re not changing the damn world. Have you seen the world? I promise you, if you think that I’m on some kind of agenda, then I’m really shitty at it because nothing has gone in the direction that I had hoped. I mean, nothing for 25 years. So, I do not delude myself that there’s any other part of the job for me than that. And if people think that there is some other agenda going on, all the more reason to stick to that first principle that we started with 25 years ago, which is: What’s funny about this?

ATTACHMENT TWENTY – FROM DETROIT FREE PRESS

SEE THE STAR-STUDDED LIST OF FINAL GUESTS FOR STEPHEN COLBERT'S 'LATE SHOW'

By Julie Hinds Updated May 11, 2026, 4:11 p.m. ET

No more “Meanwhile.” No more “Rescue Dog Rescue.” No more “Hormuz Nuz U Can Uz.”

The countdown clock is ticking to the final episode of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” on May 21. Until then, a star-studded list of guests is scheduled for the CBS late-night host's penultimate week.

Colbert will welcome four of his competitors - NBC’s Jimmy Fallon, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel, NBC’s Seth Meyers and HBO’s John Oliver - on Monday, May 11.

It's a reunion for the quintet, which teamed up in 2023 for a podcast called “Strike Force Five” that helped raise funds for their respective crew members during the Writers Guild and SAG-AFTRA strikes.

Monday night’s episode also will feature a Broadway performance by stars Annaleigh Ashford, Christopher Jackson, Bernadette Peters, Ben Platt and Patrick Wilson.  

Julia Louis-Dreyfus of “Veep” fame and Pedro Pascal of the upcoming Star Wars franchise movie, “The Mandalorian and Grogu,” are set to be Colbert's guests for Tuesday, May 12.

Tom Hanks will sit down with Colbert on Wednesday, May 13. The episode also will feature former President Barack Obama tackling “The Colbert Questionert,” a recurring bit where famous figures are asked personal questions on topics like their favorite sandwich and first concert.

And on Thursday, David Letterman, who originated “The Late Show” in 1993, will return to the Ed Sullivan Theater for his final appearance on the show he founded and helmed until Colbert took over as host in 2015. The musical guest that evening will be the Strokes.

In July 2025, CBS announced it would not be renewing "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” The network described the cancellation as "a purely financial decision." Given Colbert’s consistent comedy critiques in his monologue of President Donald Trump, the decision was widely interpreted as a political move aimed at ensuring the FCC would approve a merger between Skydance and Paramount, which owns CBS.

The FCC gave the OK to the $8-billion deal roughly a week after Colbert's cancellation was revealed.

Detroit-born media mogul Byron Allen will take over "The Late Show" timeslot after May 21. CBS will sell its 11:35 p.m. time slot to Allen, 64, and his Allen Media Group.

Under the deal, back-to-back episodes of Allen's series, "Comics Unleashed," will move into Colbert's former hour starting May 22.

ATTACHMENT TWENTY ONE – FROM ROLLING STONE

STEPHEN COLBERT’S FINAL WEEK ‘LATE SHOW’ GUESTS: SPRINGSTEEN, JON STEWART, DAVID BYRNE

Steven Spielberg and other "special guests" also on tap for the late-night series' last four episodes

By Daniel Kreps May 16, 2026

The Late Show With Stephen Colbert has revealed some of the guests that will visit during the show’s final week on the air.

While some surprise guests will appear throughout the week, The Late Show announced Friday that the Tuesday, May 19 episode will feature interviews with Steven Spielberg and Colbert’s Daily Show cohort Jon Stewart, as well as a performance by David Byrne with Colbert.

The Wednesday, May 20 episode will include a performance by Bruce Springsteen as well as appearances by special guests, with Colbert also answering his own “The Colbert Questionert” for the first time.

Details of the series finale on Thursday, May 21 have not yet been revealed. The Monday, May 18 episode is currently guest-less, with Colbert opting to revisit “The Worst” of The Late Show, although the episode is “not a clip show!”

‘Good Night and Good Luck, Motherf--kers’: Letterman and Colbert Toss CBS Property Off the Roof

Pete Townshend Sells Name, Image, and Music Rights in New Deal: Reports

As previously reported, the other late-night shows will cede the spotlight to The Late Show on Colbert’s final night, with both Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel airing repeats on May 21.

The Late Show has ramped up the star power in Colbert’s closing weeks, with guests including Oprah Winfrey, Barack Obama, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and original host David Letterman, who returned to toss CBS property off the Ed Sullivan Theater roof. Recent musical guests include the Strokes, Michael Stipe, Chris Stapleton, and Foo Fighters, who previously served as the final musical guest of Letterman’s Late Show.

ATTACHMENT TWENTY TWO – FROM VARIETY

SETH MEYERS DISSES CBS AT UPFRONTS, A TERM HE SAYS ‘DESCRIBES HOW THEY PAID TRUMP TO DROP THE LAWSUIT’

By Michael Schneider

Seth Meyers closed the NBC Universal upfront at Radio City Music Hall on Monday morning with plenty of jabs at his bosses. But perhaps his most cutting jokes were reserved for rival CBS and its Paramount Skydance owners.

“CBS did not hold an upfront presentation this year because at CBS, upfront just describes how they paid Trump to drop the lawsuit,” he said to applause from the crowd.

As Networks and Streamers Head to the Upfronts, They Have Plenty to Tout — And Just As Many Needs

Earlier in his comedy routine for the gathered media buyers, Meyers noted that NBC was the No. 1 broadcast television network for the 2025 2026 season: “After over a decade, we have taken down CBS. Well, the Ellisons did, but I like to think we helped. Seriously, what’s going on over there? They’re so in the pocket for Trump that I heard next year ‘Survivor’ is in the Strait of Hormuz!”

And then referencing the impending Paramount Skydance/Warner Bros. Discovery merger, Meyers added: “Paramount Skydance has announced that it plans to merge its Paramount+ streaming service with HBO Max. So now you’ll get all your favorites in one place. Plus Paramount+!”

Paramount wasn’t the only target of Meyers’ barbs. The “Late Night With Seth Meyers” host noted that while NBCU continues to host its annual upfront at Radio City Music Hall, this year Netflix has relocated its event to Sunset Pier 94: “Netflix is hosting its upfronts at a pier on the Hudson River,” he said, “because once a Netflix show hits two seasons, that’s where they dump its body.”

Then there was a jab at his former cable colleagues: “And if you’re from out of town and you get hassled by someone for money on the subway, don’t panic. That’s just the Versant afterparty.”

Meyers opened his routine by introducing himself: “I’m Seth Meyers — or as the FCC calls me, ‘next.'”

But he also had a few jokes targeted toward Comcast, starting with the fact that last year, he noted, “NBC had it all, the Olympics, the Super Bowl. The more you think about it, the more it breaks your heart that we’re up here selling next year. NBC has the Emmys this year. Well, we’re airing them. HBO is the one who actually gets to have them.”

“Comcast actually made a bid too, but no one thought we were actually gonna get it,” he said. “Was kind of like that one friend who always pretends to reach for his wallet after the check comes, ‘No, no, Comcast, you can get the next time.’ ‘Thanks, I’m a little light after buying the NBA.'”

“Speaking of streamers, Comcast said on its most recent earnings call, that Peacock is approaching profitability in the same way Kevin Hart is approaching seven feet tall,” he said. “But it’s an exciting time for Peacock. Season 8 of ‘Love Island USA’ is set to premier June. So please, please get the HPV vaccine. If you’re the ad rep for Valtrex, what are you waiting for?”

Speaking of “Love Island,” Meyers noted that the Peacock series is back. “That’s ‘Love Island,’ the show President Trump calls, ‘I never went there!'”

Also, he noted that NBC Universal poached “Yellowstone” creator Taylor Sheridan last year from Paramount in a deal worth a reported $1 million — “which means I’m finally going to get a call from my dad asking, ‘What channel is NBC on?’ I love Taylor Sheridan, but I can never figure out if he’s the white Tyler Perry or the straight Ryan Murphy. Or, is it Dick Wolf with a cowboy hat? Personally, I’m just hoping Taylor Sheridan will collaborate on the first cattle ranching show set in Chicago. Get excited for ‘Chicago Beef!'”

Speaking of Wolf, Meyers noted that “Law & Order: SVU” was renewed for Season 28. “And I don’t want to spoil any guest stars, but let’s just say, Prince Andrew applied for his SAG card!”

Vin Diesel was at the upfront to announce the “Fast and the Furious” series in development at Peacock. “But due to rising oil prices, he now goes by Vin Ethanol… there was a car here for ‘the Fast & Furious’ — but only because Tiger Woods crashed it into the lobby.”

“NBC Sunday Night Football” was watched this year by an average 23.5 million viewers — “and to boost ratings this year, Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth will start a ‘Heated Rivalry’ style affair. It’s going to be really steamy, and Cris will call all the games in a Russian accent.”

For his closer, Meyers had one more joke up his sleeve for his Eye competitors: “NBC is turning 100 years old this year. Which means right now, it’s watching CBS.”

ATTACHMENT TWENTY THREE – FROM DEADLINE

SETH MEYERS MOCKS ELLISON-OWNED CBS & TRUMP AT NBCUPFRONTS: “I HEARD NEXT YEAR ‘SURVIVOR’ IS IN THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ”

By Katie Campione May 11, 2026 9:58am

Seth Meyers took aim at the competition Monday morning during NBC Universal‘s upfront presentation to advertisers in New York City.

“We have taken down CBS,” said the late-night host, referring to the fact that, for the first time in nearly two decades, NBC rather than CBS will take the broadcast crown for total viewers in the TV season. “Well, the Ellisons did, but I like to think we helped.”

Meyers — who is actually set to appear on CBS Monday night with fellow the Strike Force Five members Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, and John Oliver to kick off the final week of The Late Show with his friend and network rival Stephen Colbert — kept the digs coming by taking some guesses as to how the Ellisons’ close ties to the Trump administration might become more apparent on Paramount’s TV networks in the coming years.

“Seriously, what’s going on over there? They’re so in the pocket for Trump that I heard, next year, Survivor is in the Strait of Hormuz,” he said.

Meyers also pointed out that, unlike NBCU’s flashy two-hour presentation at Radio City Music Hall, Paramount opted for a much quieter presence with advertisers. The company hosted several smaller presentations across the country, including in L.A. and New York City, as well as a few intimate dinners with clients and talent.

“CBS did not hold an upfront presentation this year because ‘CBS up front’ just describes how they paid Trump to drop the lawsuit,” he joked.

While Paramount certainly took the brunt of the jokes in Meyers’ 10-minute laugh session, the comedian spread the love around quite a bit to NBCUniversal’s other competitors — and even lobbed a few wisecracks at his own employers.

The comedian, of course, mentioned Paramount’s winning bid to buy Warner Bros., adding, “Comcast actually made a bid too, but no one thought we were actually gonna get it. It was kind of like that one friend who always pretends to reach for his wallet after the check comes. ‘No, no. Comcast, you can get it next time, bud.'”

Speaking of the eventual joint streaming service that would combine Paramount+ and HBO Max once the studios merge, Meyers added: “So now you’ll get all your favorites in one place … speaking of streamers, Comcast said on its most recent earnings call that Peacock is approaching profitability in the same way Kevin Hart is approaching seven feet tall.”

“But it’s an exciting time for Peacock. Season 8 of Love Island USA is set to premiere in June, so please, please get the HPV vaccine. If you’re the ad rep for Valtrex, what are you waiting for? Love Island is back. That’s Love Island, the show President Trump calls, ‘I never went there,'” he continued. “NBCUniversal poached Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan last year from Paramount in a deal worth a reported $1 billion, which means I’m finally going to get a call from my dad asking, ‘What channel is NBC on?'”

NBC Universal kicked off a busy week of upfronts presentations across New York City. Fox and Amazon will also host presentations Monday, with Disney to come on Tuesday and Netflix on Wednesday.

Speaking of the streaming behemoth, Meyers teased: “Netflix is hosting its upfronts this year on the Hudson River, because once a Netflix show hits two seasons, that’s where they dump its body.”

ATTACHMENT TWENTY FOUR – FROM LATENIGHTER

SETH MEYERS BRINGS A LITTLE LATE-NIGHT ANXIETY TO NBC UPFRONT

By Matt Webb Mitovich

“Good morning, everybody. I’m Seth Meyers—or as the FCC calls me, ‘Next.'”

That’s how the host of NBCUniversal’s Late Night with Seth Meyers opened his seven-minute stand-up set at NBCUniversal’s upfront presentation to ad buyers Monday morning, alluding to the agency putting its thumb on the scale this past year to rid the late-night landscape of two of Donald Trump’s other late-night critics, Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert.

Meyers’ other targets also included CBS, Netflix’s hasty cancellations, NBCU’s big-bucks deal with Yellowstone auteur Taylor Sheridan, and his envy of SNL UK‘s potty mouth.

“NBC was the No. 1 broadcast television network for the 2025-2026 season,” Meyers reported at the top of his set. “After over a decade, we have taken down CBS. Well, the Ellisons did, but I’d like to think we helped.”

“Seriously, what’s going on over there [at CBS/Paramount Skydance]?” he asked. “They’re so in the pocket for Trump that I heard next year’s Survivor is in the Strait of Hormuz.”

On that same front, he later said, “CBS did not hold an upfront presentation this year because at CBS ‘up front’ just describes how they paid Trump to drop the lawsuit.”

Recounting NBC’s fine showing this past TV season, Meyers said, “NBC had it all—the Olympics, the Super Bowl…. The more you think about it, the more it breaks your heart that we’re up here selling next year.”

Other light jabs at NBCU included a nod to the newly spun-off entity that now is home to E!, Syfy, USA Network, and a few other cable properties. “If you’re from out of town and you get hassled by someone for money on the subway, don’t panic,” Meyers told the crowd gathered at Radio City Music Hall. “That’s just the Versant afterparty.”

Also: “It’s an exciting time for Peacock,” he said of NBCU’s streaming service. “Season 8 of Love Island USA is set to premiere in June, so please, please get the HPV vaccine.”

“Love Island, the show President Trump calls, ‘I never went there,'” he quipped.

Meyers briefly pivoted to fire some shots at rival media entities. For one, “Netflix is hosting its upfronts at a pier on the Hudson River, because once a Netflix show hits two seasons, that’s where they dump its body,” he said.

Meyers then noted, “Paramount Skydance has announced that it plans to merge its Paramount+ streaming service with HBO Max, so now you’ll get all your favorites in one place. Plus Paramount+.”

Speaking again of Paramount Skydance, and how the conglomerate beat out Netflix to buy Warner Bros., Meyers said, “Comcast actually made a bid, too, but no one thought we were actually gonna get it. It was kind of like that one friend who always pretends to reach for his wallet after the check comes. ‘Comcast, you can get it next time, bud.’ ‘Thanks, I’m a little light after buying the NBA.'”

In addition to splurging on pro basketball, NBCU also put a reported $1 billion in the pocket of Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan, “which means I’m finally gonna get a call from my dad asking, ‘What channel is NBC on?'” said Meyers.

“I love Taylor Sheridan,” he continued, “but I can never figure out if he’s ‘the white Tyler Perry’ or ‘the straight Ryan Murphy.’ Or is it ‘Dick Wolf with a cowboy hat’?”

“I’m just hoping Taylor Sheridan and Dick Wolf collaborate on the first cattle ranching show set in Chicago,” he added. “‘Are you sad The Bear is ending? Then get excited for Chicago Beef!'”

Other choice jokes from Meyers’ set:

· Regarding Law & Order: SVU‘s Season 28 renewal, “I don’t want to spoil any guest stars, but let’s just say Prince Andrew applied for his SAG card.”

· To further boost Sunday Night Football‘s record average audience of 23.5 million viewers, “Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth will start a Heated Rivalry-style affair,” Meyers said. “It’s going to be really steamy, and Cris is going to call all the games in a Russian accent.”

· “It’s a little strange that Telemundo advertises Love Island as Los Diablos del Herpes.”

· This year—to be commemorated with a live special airing December 10—”NBC is turning 100 years old,” Meyers noted, “which means right now, it’s watching CBS.”

· And regarding Saturday Night Live UK, which streams on Peacock and was just renewed for a second season, Meyers said, “I’m just jealous that they can actually swear on their version, because I always wanted my sign-off to be, ‘For Weekend Update, I’m Seth f*cking Meyers, assholes.'”

NBC’s upfront presentation was held Monday morning at Radio City Music Hall. Disney-ABC is set to hold its own event tomorrow. Jimmy Kimmel has traditionally performed a similar, roast-style set at ABC’s upfront—and is expected to continue that tradition Tuesday afternoon.

As we’ve reported, with Kimmel in town, he, Meyers, Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, and John Oliver are all set to stage a Strike Force Five reunion on tonight’s episode of Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

ATTACHMENT TWENTY FIVE – FROM L.A. TIMES

WHO’S NEXT?

As Kimmel mocks Trump, ABC’s TV station licenses are under review — here’s what that means

By Stephen Battaglio May 5, 2026 3 AM PT

· FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced an early review of Disney’s eight ABC TV station licenses, citing concerns about the company’s diversity and inclusion policies — two years ahead of schedule.

· The announcement comes days after late-night host Jimmy Kimmel mocked Melania Trump and the first lady publicly called for his firing, raising questions about whether the FCC’s action is politically motivated.

· Legal experts say the bar for license denial is historically high and any challenge would be tied up in court for years, making actual revocation unlikely despite administration pressure.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr has shown an ability to make a lot of noise at the government agency known in recent years to be a little sleepy.

But his April 28 announcement that the Walt Disney Co.’s eight ABC TV stations will undergo an early review of their broadcast licenses is his loudest action yet taken on behalf of President Trump, who repeatedly threatened media outlets that he believes are critical of him.

Carr is calling for the review two years before any of the station licenses are up, citing the agency’s inquiry into Disney’s diversity, equity and inclusion policies and whether they violated federal anti-discrimination rules.

April 28, 2026

The timing of Carr’s move is raising eyebrows as it comes after First Lady Melania Trump’s call for the firing of ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel over his April 23 comedy bit on the White House correspondents’ dinner. A tuxedo-clad Kimmel called Melania Trump “beautiful,” saying she had “the glow of an expectant widow.”

The first lady’s remarks came after a man armed with a shotgun, handgun and several knives breached security at the Washington black-tie event on April 25. The suspect, Cole Tomas Allen of Torrance, was arrested and faces three criminal charges, including attempting to assassinate the president.

Kimmel’s gag became ammunition for right-wing commentators, who claim the left is stoking political violence.

The host said the joke was about the age difference between the 79-year-old president and his wife. Kimmel denied it was a call for violence and has continued to mock the president on his show.

Carr insisted at a Washington news conference last week that his demand for a review is not related to Kimmel’s remarks.

Although many are skeptical, Carr, who was at the April 25 dinner, told The Times there would be an action related to ABC coming soon. The conversation occurred hours before the shots were fired.

The investigation into Disney’s practices began in March 2025, part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to reverse DEI initiatives across private companies, federal agencies, universities and other organizations.

After the 2020 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, which spurred the Black Lives Matter movement, companies such as Disney and NBC-owned Comcast aggressively promoted their diversity efforts.

But experts believe Carr is acting on ABC at the behest of Trump, as the chairman has often expressed support on social media whenever the president criticizes one of the broadcast TV news outlets.

From tuxedos to trenches: How media’s biggest black-tie party became a violent story

“It might be the case that Disney can get some early relief by saying this should be dismissed because this is really a 1st Amendment issue,” said James Speta, a professor at the Northwestern University School of Law. “We all know what’s going on here — the administration doesn’t like the speech that’s coming out of the talent on the broadcasting airwaves.”

Disney is not commenting on Carr’s DEI investigation, but it earlier defended the record of its TV stations, which are ratings leaders in most markets. “We are confident that record demonstrates our continued qualifications as licensees under the Communications Act and the First Amendment and are prepared to show that through the appropriate legal channels,” the company said.

Here’s a primer on what to know and the challenges Disney may face.

WHY ARE TV STATIONS LICENSED BY THE GOVERNMENT?

Government licensing regulates the spectrum allocated to broadcast channels, largely to prevent interference between TV signals. When renewals come up, the license holder must demonstrate that the station is serving the public interest by providing local news, program diversity and educational and informational shows for children. The procedure once occurred every three years, but deregulation efforts have extended that period to the current span of eight years.

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME A TV STATION FACED A SIGNIFICANT LICENSE RENEWAL CHALLENGE?

The most notable recent example was Fox Corp.’s Philadelphia station WTXF, which was up for a license renewal in October 2023. Activist groups filing the challenge said Fox was unfit to own the outlet after a judge ruled earlier that year that the company’s Fox News Channel had spread falsehoods about voter fraud in the 2020 election.

Fox paid $787 million to settle a defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems that alleged the cable news channel damaged the company’s reputation.

Fox News, which operates on cable and satellite and is therefore not subject to FCC control, has a different management team than the parent company’s local TV stations, which mostly cover their communities and do not typically present political commentary. The FCC rejected the renewal challenge in January 2025, noting that none of the false information on Fox News was heard on the Philadelphia station. WTXF was not cited in Dominion’s lawsuit.

ARE THERE ANY OTHER EXAMPLES?

Yes. Other White House administrations have threatened to pull TV station licenses in response to negative news coverage. At the height of the Watergate scandal in the 1970s, Richard Nixon’s allies unsuccessfully attempted to challenge the TV licenses of three stations then owned by the Washington Post.

HAS A COMPANY EVER LOST ITS BROADCAST LICENSE?

RKO General, a unit of the General Tire and Rubber Co., was the last company to lose broadcast TV station licenses in 1987, including Los Angeles outlet KHJ. The case was related to corporate malfeasance and not broadcast content on the stations.

The process to revoke the RKO licenses took seven years from the moment the FCC voted in favor of the move.

BUT ISN’T THIS CASE DIFFERENT?

Yes. Although the rule Carr mentioned is legitimate, the FCC has rarely if ever acted on it, according to one veteran TV executive who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. If Disney or any other company was found to violate the nondiscrimination rule, they would in previous eras probably be subjected to a just a fine, not the denial of a license, which would be viewed by many as government censorship.

WHAT HAPPENS IN THE EVENT THAT ABC LICENSES ARE NOT RENEWED?

Nothing immediately, as the licenses are in effect through 2028 to 2032, depending on the outlet. If Disney had to sell the stations, the price would probably be depressed due to pressure to unload the properties.

But public communications attorney Andrew Jay Schwartzman told The Times last month that the bar for denying a renewal is high and any effort would be tied up in court on constitutional grounds.

“The law intentionally sets out a very steep burden for the FCC to deny a license renewal; the process takes many years, during which time the licensee continues to operate normally under ‘continuing operating authority,’” Schwartzman said.

FCC chair threatens to pull TV licenses over Iran news coverage. Why that’s highly unlikely

Stephen Colbert, Trump and what’s making broadcasters nervous

· FCC chair’s call for ‘equal time’ could have chilling effect on TV and radio

ATTACHMENT TWENTY SIX – FROM TIME

JIMMY KIMMEL SPEAKS OUT AFTER MELANIA TRUMP ‘WIDOW’ JOKE CRITICISM

By Chad de Guzman Apr 28, 2026 10:49 AM ET

“You know how sometimes you wake up in the morning and the First Lady puts out a statement demanding you be fired from your job,” comedian Jimmy Kimmel said in the opening monologue of his late-night show Monday evening. “We’ve all been there, right?”

Kimmel, who frequently mocks President Donald Trump and his family and whose show last year was temporarily suspended after pressure on ABC by the Administration, addressed First Lady Melania Trump’s call earlier Monday for the network to fire him over a joke he made last week.

Kimmel, in a skit that aired on April 23 that satirized the then-upcoming White House Correspondents’ Dinner, pretended to address Melania and joked that the First Lady had “a glow like an expectant widow.” 

But after the actual dinner on April 25 was disrupted by a shooting, suspected to be the third assassination attempt on the President, Melania claimed on social media that Kimmel’s “hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country” and that “his monologue about my family isn’t comedy.” The President also chimed in, referencing Kimmel’s “expectant widow” joke and claiming that it was “far beyond the pale.”

Kimmel defended himself on Monday night’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, saying that his remark was not a call for violence but rather “obviously was a joke about their age difference and the look of joy we see on her face every time they’re together.”

Kimmel continued: “It was a very light roast joke about the fact that he’s almost 80, and she’s younger than I am. It was not, by any stretch of the definition, a call to assassination, and they know that.”

He noted, facetiously, that if the Trumps really believe his remarks could have induced violence, they should also look into a remark made by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt before the dinner. “It will be funny. It will be entertaining,” Leavitt had told Fox News. “There will be some shots fired tonight.”

While Kimmel said he understands that the incident may have been particularly “stressful” for the Trumps and agreed to reject “hateful and violent rhetoric,” he argued that the First Lady should first speak to her husband about dialing back inflammatory language against his critics and the press.

“Donald Trump is allowed to say whatever he wants to say, as are you and as am I, as are all of us, because under the First Amendment, we have, as Americans, a right to free speech,” Kimmel said, while noting that he’s a vocal advocate against gun violence. “I am sorry that you and the President and everyone in that room on Saturday went through that. I really am,” he said. “Just ’cause no one got killed doesn't mean it wasn’t traumatic and scary, and we should come together and be best.”

ATTACHMENT TWENTY SEVEN – FROM THE DAILY BEAST

JIMMY KIMMEL ROASTS MARCO RUBIO’S ‘EMBARRASSING’ MEETING WITH POPE LEO

AWKWARD: Kimmel ripped into Rubio’s “penance face” at the Vatican.

By Michael Boyle Published May 8 2026 1:17AM EDT 

Jimmy Kimmel was not impressed by how Secretary of State Marco Rubio handled his meeting with Pope Leo XIV on Thursday.

Rubio visited the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican just days after President Trump’s latest attack on the pope’s character.

Trump had lashed out against the pope in April after the Catholic leader criticized his war in Iran. Earlier this week, Trump falsely characterized the pope as wanting Iran to have a nuclear weapon, and accused the pope of “endangering a lot of Catholics” with his anti-war rhetoric.

The pope has maintained his calls for peace.

He told reporters on Wednesday, “The mission of the Church is to preach the Gospel, to preach peace. If anyone wants to criticize me for proclaiming the Gospel, let them do so truthfully.”

Trump Reignites Pope Battle With Bonkers New Comments

In his monologue on Thursday, Kimmel zeroed in on Rubio’s stiff body language during his Vatican meeting. He showed a clip where Rubio awkwardly shook hands with the pontiff, then posed for a picture with him.

The American-born pope managed a small smile for the photo, while Rubio stared blankly ahead.

Kimmel joked, “That’s what Marco calls vibing with someone.”

Kimmel noted that Rubio and the pope had “the chemistry of parents at their daughter’s wedding two months after the divorce.”

“In an embarrassing mix-up, the pope mistook little Marco for a child and baptized him,” Kimmel added.

Zeroing in on Rubio’s expression, Kimmel joked further, “If that’s not a penance face, I’ve never seen a penance face.”

Pope Leo’s Brother Dishes on Their MAGA Sibling

In his meeting with Rubio, the pope gifted the Trump administration a pen made of olive wood, noting that an olive branch is symbol of peace.

In return, Rubio gifted the pope a small crystal American football with the State Department’s seal on it.

“Wow, okay,” the pope replied.

Kimmel didn’t cover the exchange of gifts in his monologue, but fellow late-night host Stephen Colbert argued that the pope’s olive wood pen was the more thoughtful present of the two.

In response to Rubio’s crystal football, Colbert joked, “I smell regift!”

Despite the apparent tension at the event, the Vatican released a statement afterward describing the pope’s meeting with Rubio as “cordial.”

The Vatican’s statement declared, “The shared commitment to fostering sound bilateral relations between the Holy See and the United States of America was reaffirmed.”

ATTACHMENT TWENTY EIGHT – FROM THE HILL

MAHER KNOCKS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION OVER LATEST COMEY INDICTMENT: ‘GOING A LITTLE CRAZY’

by Ryan Mancini - 05/02/26 11:03 AM ET

Comedian Bill Maher on Friday quipped that the Trump administration is “going a little crazy” with its second indictment of former FBI Director James Comey over an alleged threat to President Trump’s life.

Maher used his “Real Time” monologue to segue from the assassination attempt at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner to the Comey indictment by joking that the alleged shooter “was activated by James Comey’s sea shells.”

The Department of Justice (DOJ) indicted Comey in connection with a since-deleted social media post from last May. The post was of sea shells arranged to say “86 47,” which the DOJ accused of being a threat toward Trump, the 47th president.

The host explained how “86” refers to “getting rid” of something, which is a common term used in restaurants when items are sold out. Maher added, “Yeah, they’re going a little crazy there in Washington.”

“The Justice Department is trying to put former head of the FBI, James Comey, in jail for posting sea shells,” the comedian said. “Why? Because the sea shells spelled out ’86 47.’ He’s the Manchurian beachcomber.”

The DOJ charged Comey with two counts of making a threat against the president and transmitting a threat in interstate commerce, according to the unsealed indictment. Comey surrendered to law enforcement and made an initial court appearance in Alexandria, Va., on Wednesday. He did not enter a plea.

Comey denied any wrongdoing. He previously said he assumed the shells were a “political message” but did not realize the numbers could be associated with violence.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has portrayed the case as similar to others clamping down on threats against any public officials of any political affiliation. He told CBS News on Wednesday that Trump “absolutely, positively” did not direct the order to pursue the indictment.

Trump, who fired Comey in 2017, has pressured the DOJ to prosecute Comey. The president told Fox News last year that Comey “knew exactly” what the post meant.

“’86’ is a mob term for ‘kill him,'” Trump wrote Wednesday on Truth Social. “They say 86 him! 86 47 means ‘kill President Trump.’ James Comey, who is a Dirty Cop, one of the worst, knows this full well! EIGHT MILES OUT, SIX FEET DOWN! Didn’t he also lie to the FBI about this??? I think so!”

The DOJ’s case has come under scrutiny by many who have said its merits are weak.

Trump ally Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas) told reporters that the case was “a stretch.” Former Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) told The Hill that the case was “frivolous.”

“As a Republican, I am particularly bothered by this, because the Democrats will have the White House someday,” Dent said. “And would we want them using the Department of Justice to attack Republican former officials or others considered to be ‘enemies’ of the Democratic administration? What is the argument going to be?”

Comey was first indicted late last year in connection with testimony he gave before the Senate in 2020 as it probed investigations into ties between Russia and Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, which the president has long denied.

A federal judge dismissed the case in November after finding that Lindsey Halligan, the U.S. attorney selected by Trump to prosecute, was unlawfully appointed.

ATTACHMENT TWENTY EIGHT – FROM LASTNIGHTON

TRUMP CALLS LATE-NIGHT HOST 'PATHETIC' (NO, NOT JIMMY KIMMEL THIS TIME)

By Matt Moore

President Donald Trump found himself a new late-night target over the weekend, and for once, it isn’t Jimmy Kimmel. The president took a break from attacking the ABC host to go after a different comedian.

President Trump set his sights on Bill Maher following Friday’s episode of Real Time with Bill Maher, which featured an interview with California Governor Gavin Newsom. The interview likely landed on the president's radar after being highlighted on Fox News, prompting Trump to respond in a lengthy Truth Social post on Saturday.

“I hate seeing Fox, and other Conservative Outlets, constantly making Low Rated Bill Maher ‘relevant’ as it pertains to the Republican Party, and beyond,” Trump wrote. “Fox should stop putting this person on. He’s not representing us. You look weak, stupid, and ineffective, and I hate seeing that.”

Then things got personal as President Trump went in on Maher. The president brought up the much-discussed White House dinner he had with Maher in 2025. The late-night host came out of the meeting with a different perspective on President Trump, describing him as "gracious" and not at all like the public persona he puts on.

But President Trump chose not to repay the compliment this weekend. “He was nervous, scared, and the first words he uttered as he entered the Oval Office were, ‘Can I have a drink?’ It was very endearing but, at the same time, absolutely pathetic,” Trump claimed.

President Trump went on to suggest Maher was ill-prepared for his interview with Governor Newsom as the politician touted his accomplishments in California in addition to accusing the Trump administration of fraud and corruption.

Maher has yet to publicly respond, but he could be waiting for this week's Real Time episode to share his thoughts. The story also comes not too long after Maher extended something of an olive branch to President Trump.

While confirming that he will receive the Mark Twain Prize for Humor at the Kennedy Center, Maher said he hopes President Trump attends the event. There was some confusion regarding Maher's selection for the honor. He has been a vocal critic of President Trump, who now holds significant influence over Kennedy Center operations.

So perhaps Maher should tread carefully if he does choose to respond. Angering President Trump could cost Maher a major career accomplishment and see the Mark Twain Prize go to someone else. Then again, maybe the comedian would appreciate the attention that would follow such a fiasco. If nothing else, Maher shouldn't expect to receive another White House dinner invitation anytime soon.

And for fans keeping score at home, President Trump did throw in a dig at Jimmy Kimmel in his social media post about Bill Maher. The president wrote “MORON, though slightly more talented than Jimmy Kimmel" concerning the HBO post, reminding everyone involved that no grudge gets left behind.

Bill Maher wants the ultra-rich to step up and fix the economy

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Donald Trump wants Jimmy Kimmel fired (again) as things get worse for host

Donald Trump starts Thursday by calling for Jimmy Kimmel to be fired once again

Jimmy Kimmel's advice on how to avoid a Trump passport

ATTACHMENT TWENTY NINE – FROM BUSINESS INSIDER

FIRST KIMMEL, NOW 'THE VIEW': DISNEY IS PUSHING BACK AGAINST TRUMP

By Peter Kafka Follow Chief Correspondent covering media and technology May 8, 2026, 3:55 PM ET

· Disney doesn't want to be in a fight with Donald Trump.

· So in 2024 and 2025, the entertainment giant appeared to be appeasing him.

· Now it's pushing back — not loudly, but firmly.

· What led to Disney's strategy shift?

· Who is Paul Clement and why is he involved?

· How might Disney's stance impact its brand?

Disney's first approach to Trump 2.0: Give Donald Trump what he wants.

Now it's trying something different: The opposite.

In a filing with the federal government this week, Disney pushed back against its attempt to regulate which guests can appear on "The View," calling those efforts "unprecedented" and a threat to free speech.

And while Disney's fight in this case is theoretically with the Federal Communications Commission, not the president of the United States, we should be clear about this: FCC head Brendan Carr was placed in the job by Donald Trump, and acts as if he is an extension of Donald Trump.

So when Disney says Carr's agency is out of line, it knows exactly how that critique is going to land in the White House.

It's also the second time in weeks that Disney has taken on the White House. Last month, Melania Trump and then Donald Trump called on Disney's ABC to punish Jimmy Kimmel for a joke he'd made about them. The following day, Carr's FCC said it was reviewing Disney's broadcast licenses, years earlier than planned. But Kimmel has stayed on the air, where he continues to tweak the Trumps.

To be clear: This isn't a case of Disney, or new CEO Josh D'Amaro, challenging Trump to a duel. But it does seem to be a calculated call by D'Amaro: He's decided to push back, politely but firmly, against Trump's demands.

And that's a meaningful change from the message Disney sent in the first part of Trump's second term.

In the fall of 2024 — after Trump's reelection but before he'd been inaugurated — Disney settled a defamation suit many experts thought it would easily win, agreeing to a $15 million payout to Trump (via his planned presidential library). And in the fall of 2025, Disney took Kimmel off the air after Carr complained about another Trump joke the host had told.

But extensive public outcry over Kimmel's suspension helped then-CEO Bob Iger change his mind, and he reinstated Kimmel after a few days. Now his successor seems to be following in his footsteps — neither man is critiquing Trump in public, but they're also not giving him what he wants.

As I've noted before, keeping Kimmel on the air doesn't mean that Disney is immune to pressure from Trump and Carr. And if you wanted to, you could argue that keeping Kimmel on air, but not pushing back out loud against Trump, isn't really pushing back.

But this week's filing makes it harder to make that argument. It's narrowly about the FCC's "equal time" clause, and the FCC's attempt to use that clause to regulate whether a daytime talk show can have certain political candidates on air (the issue also flared up a few months ago over on Paramount's CBS and its late-night show hosted by Stephen Colbert).

But the language of the filing, which uses phrases like "chill critical protected speech," and "the danger is that the government will simply decide which perspectives to regulate and which to leave undisturbed," makes it clear that Disney isn't just making a narrow technocratic argument with Trump's FCC, but a big, thematic one.

The fact that Disney is using Paul Clement, a well-known conservative attorney who worked in the George W Bush White House and has argued dozens of cases in the Supreme Court, is another message: We're willing to fight this for a long time, with heavy-duty firepower.

I asked Disney for comment and was directed back to its FCC filing. I haven't heard back from Carr.

Again, none of this means that Disney is joining the #Resistance. It would rather not be fighting the federal government. And it definitely doesn't want to alienate the tens of millions of people who voted for Trump, all of whom it wants to watch its shows and movies, and to visit its theme parks and cruise ships.

But it does look like Disney is willing to draw some discrete lines in the sand. That's a change worth noting.

ATTACHMENT THIRTY – FROM REUTERS

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION AIMS BROAD CENSORSHIP CAMPAIGN AT DISNEY, FCC COMMISSIONER SAYS

By David Shepardson

May 11, 2026 12:09 PM EDTUpdated 3 hours ago

WASHINGTON, May 11 (Reuters) - The Trump administration is engaged in a targeted effort to censor Disney and its ABC network through a series of sweeping regulatory actions, the only Democrat on the Federal Communications Commission said on Monday.

"What Disney and ABC are facing is not a series of coincidental regulatory actions but a sustained, coordinated campaign of censorship and control, carried out through the weaponization of the FCC's authority as a federal regulator and aimed at pressuring a free and independent press and all media into submission," FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez wrote in a letter to Disney CEO Josh D'Amaro.

Last month, Republican FCC Chairman Brendan Carr ordered an unusual early review of licenses for Disney's eight ABC stations. The FCC has not revoked a broadcast license in more than four decades.

Disney's broadcast licenses were not scheduled to be reviewed before October 2028. After a joke by ABC late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel drew calls from the White House for the comedian to be fired, the FCC quickly ordered the review.

Carr is also investigating ABC daytime talk show "The View" after declaring it is subject to federal equal time rules for political candidates.

In February, the FCC said it was probing whether "The View" violated equal time rules for interviews with political candidates, after an appearance by Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico. The FCC said TV talk shows are no longer considered "bona fide" news programs that are exempt from the rules.

In November, President Donald Trump demanded the FCC revoke ABC licenses after he criticized an ABC News correspondent for asking Saudi Arabia's crown prince about the 2018 killing of a Washington Post columnist in a question he dubbed "insubordinate."

In December 2024, ABC News agreed to give $15 million to the Trump presidential library to resolve a lawsuit over comments that anchor George Stephanopoulos made on air involving the civil case brought against Trump by writer E. Jean Carroll.

"That settlement did not buy you peace. It only bought you time. Disney's experience since then has made one thing undeniable for any company facing the same pressure. You cannot buy this administration's favor. For the right price, you can only borrow it. And the price always goes up," Gomez wrote.

ATTACHMENT THIRTY ONE – FROM NY POST

KKK INFORMANTS TO THE SPLC DE-HOODED: ONE-LEGGED IMPERIAL WIZARD ‘TRUE BELIEVER’ AND CLEANING LADY, WHO SHOW NO SIGNS OF REFORM

By Chadwick Moore Published April 27, 2026, 4:18 p.m. ET

Two of the eight ‘informants’ paid millions by the Southern Poverty Law Center can be un-hooded by The Post as a suburban mom from Georgia and a one-legged “true believer” from Alabama.

One of the SPLC’s so-called informants was an Imperial Wizard of the United Klans of America, a Ku Klux Klan organization, who remained a committed racist until his death in 2023 aged 50.

Bradley Scott Jenkins was high-up enough in the organization to call himself the leader of the “true Klan” and never displayed any signs of reform or subverting the KKK’s message — the stated aim of the SPLC’s ‘informant’ program — according to his son, Noah Jenkins.

Bradley Scott Jenkins (right, with prosthetic leg) is referred to as “F-unknown” in court documents. He is one of eight hate group leaders the SPLC is accused of funneling millions of dollars to. Jenkins, whose official title was Imperial Wizard of the United Klans of America, had at least one meeting with an FBI agent approximately 15 years ago, his son Noah Jenkins, 24, admitted to The Post.Legacy.com

“When I went to the rallies with him as a kid, I never saw anything that made me think he wasn’t a true believer,” Noah, 24, told The Post of his father, who lost his left leg due to medical complications.

Jenkins, who died an unemployed father-of-three at 50, was one of the ‘informants’ referred to as “F-unknown” in the indictment against the SPLC. The UKA is believed to continue with a new leader.

He was seemingly happy to take the nonprofit’s money while revitalizing the UKA, a once-defunct Alabama-based KKK splinter group, described on the SPLC’s website as a “millennial reboot of what was once a serious domestic threat.” In the 60s UKA had been responsible for many racist attacks and “the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Ala., which resulted in the deaths of four little girls in 1963.”

In a 2012 interview, Jenkins claimed he was against violence.

“We are weeding out the people who only joined the Ku Klux Klan to participate in violence. If that’s what they want, they have no place here. We are a family organization,” he told Vice.com.

The indictment alleges the SPLC paid over $3 million to hate group leaders, like the Ku Klux Klan, while promoting those very figures in order to solicit money from frightened donors.

The Alabama-based non-profit has been charged with wire fraud, bank fraud and money laundering conspiracy for allegedly engaging “in the active promotion of racist groups at the same time that
the SPLC was denouncing the same groups on its website.”

Alabama-based SPLC has been charged with wire fraud, bank fraud and money laundering conspiracy for allegedly engaging “in the active promotion of racist groups at the same time that the SPLC was denouncing the same groups on its website,” acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel announced on April 21.

Patel charged that far from using spies to dismantle the hate groups, the SPLC gave them over $3 million to keep promoting their ideologies, so they would have something to point to and seek donors to fight against. The nonprofit has amassed some $800 million to do so, its charity forms show.

“The SPLC was … manufacturing the extremism it purports to oppose by paying sources to stoke racial hatred,” Blanche said at a press conference.

“There’s no information that we have that suggests that the money that they were paying to these informants and these members of these organizations, they then turned around and shared what they learned with law enforcement,” he told Fox News on April 21.

Noah — who is not affiliated with the KKK or UKA — added he had suspicions his father could have been an informant, recalling how he one went with him to meet an FBI agent approximately 15 years ago.

The SPLC also had a “field source” who was a member of the online leadership chat group that planned the deadly 2017 “Unite the Right” event in Charlottesville, Va., the indictment alleges.

The Charlottesville event, which turned deadly after opposing groups of demonstrators clashed, was a major fundraising milestone for the SPLC.

“I always thought he was working with someone. I thought maybe he got into trouble and was threatened by [law enforcement] to become an informant to avoid jail or something,” he added.

He also doubted Jenkins had profited much from the SPLC. “He never had a new vehicle or anything like that. I guess he went out to eat more than my mother,” he said.

A second person IDed in the indictment, also known as “F-unknown,” is believed to be a suburban Georgia mom named April Chambers.

Another informant, “F-30,” matches the description of Paul Mullet and is described in the indictment as a National Socialist Party of America leader, “the former director of a faction of the Aryan Nations, and a former member of the Ku Klux Klan.” F-30 was secretly paid $70,000 between 2014 and 2016 according to the DOJ.

When reached by phone and asked if he was F-30, Mullet bluntly told The Post “I’m not answering any questions right now. No Comment” before hanging up.Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA/Shutterstock

In 2012, Chambers, a member of the KKK along with her Exalted Cyclops hubby Harley Henson, sued the state of Georgia over their KKK group’s attempt to join the state’s “Adopt-A-Highway” program.

While that lawsuit was ongoing, the indictment alleges Chambers was paid in excess of $3,500 by the SPLC. It’s unclear how that money would help fight racism.

The KKK claimed in their lawsuit they just wanted to pick up litter on the highway and “keep the mountains beautiful” and the issue went all the way to the Georgia Supreme Court, before the adopt-a-highway program was shut down.

Donations to the SPLC went gangbusters after Charlottesville, from $51 million to $133 million while the DOJ now alleges the anti-racism org was paying instigators. \

One Neo-Nazi leader told The Post he was accustomed to FBI infiltration but that learning of the SPLC being in his ranks was a “curveball.”

Chambers — who also goes by her married name, Henson — now appears to run 1776 Cleaners, a home cleaning and handyman service in Georgia. She did not respond to The Post’s request for comment and it is unknown if she is still a member of the KKK.

Since the indictment, Neo-Nazis, Klansmen, and National Socialist groups ensnared in it have been throwing accusations around about who among them was making hundreds of thousands off the lefty nonprofit, which saw its annual revenue surge from $51 million to $133 million after Charlottesville.

The SPLC indictment identifies one informant who was involved in litigation over an Adopt-a-Highway program while married to an Exalted Cyclops in the Klan. (See graphs, charts, photos, links and URLs here)

“This was a new one. Usually, it’s feds that are the problem. The SPLC was a curveball for me,” Burt Colucci, leader of the neo-Nazi National Social Movement (NSM), told The Post on learning his group had an SPLC payee among them.

One of his members, a motorcycle enthusiast identified as “F-27’ in the indictment, received over $300,000 from the SPLC.

“It’s someone I was in Iraq with and who I know very well. This person was thrown out [of NSM] several years ago,” Colucci said, stopping short of naming him.

“He was worrying about getting extra shekels [money]. I used to fight with this individual. He was a big information collector. He wanted to see people’s driver’s licenses, social security numbers.”

Former neo-Nazi leader Jeff Schoep says he wasn’t surprised by the indictment, saying the SPLC had been trying to contact him for years.

Schoep is now a reformed neo-Nazi who preaches about the downsides of extremism after leaving the movement in 2019.

Another ‘informant,’ “F-30,” is described in the indictment as a National Socialist Party of America leader, “the former director of a faction of the Aryan Nations, and a former member of the Ku Klux Klan” who was secretly paid $70,000 between 2014 and 2016 and “was featured on the SPLC’s ‘Extremist File’ webpage.”

That resume matches up perfectly with the SPLC website’s Extremist File entry on National Socialist Party of America boss Paul Mullet.

When reached by phone and asked if he was F30, Mullet bluntly told The Post “I’m not answering any questions right now. No Comment” before hanging up.

The SPLC also had a field source who was a member of the online leadership chat group that planned the deadly 2017 “Unite the Right” event in Charlottesville, Va., the indictment alleges, and that the group oversaw racist online posting from its sources.

Rumors continue to swirl online that ‘informant,’ “F-37” — who was paid $270,000 by the SPLC between 2015 and 2023 and helped organize the deadly Charlottesville event — was Unite The Right head Jason Kessler.

Unite The Right founder Jason Kessler told The Post that he’s not one of the SPLC moles and that he left political organizing in 2019.Getty Images

He vehemently denied to The Post he was an SPLC rat, saying he left political organizing around 2019 and has since lived a quiet life running a moving company in Virginia.

“People keep thinking that chat was some elite group of operators,” Kessler told The Post of a discussion group mentioned in the indictment.

“Anyone could join with a link. You had all these anonymous trolls in there. No one was a serious person.”

Many in the neo-Nazi community remain unfazed by the news.

“I’m not shocked at all about it, they’ve done that sort of thing before. They’ve been after me for years,” Jeff Schoep, the former head of the NSM who left in 2019 and has since become a reformed Nazi, preaching about the dangers of extremism, told The Post.

“[The SPLC] contacted me a number of times over the years but I wouldn’t talk to them because I didn’t trust the organization,” he said.

Those who felt they’ve been victims of SPLC smears are quietly gloating as the nonprofit heads to federal court.

“They use pain and suffering to raise money,” Gavin McInnes, founder of the pro-Trump men’s group The Proud Boys — a frequent SPLC target — told The Post.

“We’ll never know if we have a Nazi problem because they added a bunch of decoys to the mix. Are we overrun with Nazis or not?” he asked.

“This caused permanent damage to the American psyche.”

ATTACHMENT THIRTY TWO – FROM TANGLE

I'm Isaac Saul, and this is Tangle: an independent, nonpartisan, subscriber-supported politics newsletter that summarizes the best arguments from across the political spectrum on the news of the day — then “my take.”

A grand jury in Alabama indicted the Southern Poverty Law Center on 11 counts, but are the charges legitimate? Plus, a reader asks about the president's speechwriters.

Today’s topic.

The Southern Poverty Law Center indictment. On Tuesday, April 21, the Justice Department announced an 11-count indictment charging the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) with financial crimes, including wire fraud and making false statements to a federally insured bank. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the nonprofit organization secretly sent over $3 million to informants inside extremist groups without telling donors what their money was being used for. The SPLC denies any wrongdoing and plans to fight the charges.

Back up: The SPLC rose to prominence in the 1970s for its legal work in civil rights cases, as well as in countering extremist groups like the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). Over time, it has expanded its work to include education programs and reports on alleged hate groups. However, many on the right have grown skeptical of its judgment in labeling some groups and beliefs as extremist, saying that it unfairly equates traditional conservative or religious views with hate. 

According to the indictment, between 2014 and 2023, the SPLC maintained a network of informants who were part of groups like the KKK and the Aryan Nations. These informants relayed information that was used in the center’s reports and databases. In one instance, the center allegedly paid a member of an online group that was part of the planning of the 2017 “Unite the Right” event in Charlottesville, Virginia; the individual “made racist postings under the supervision of the SPLC and helped coordinate transportation to the event for several attendees.” Acting Attorney General Blanche described the alleged practices as “manufacturing racism to justify [the SPLC’s] existence.” 

The Justice Department argues that these informant payments misled donors based on statements on the SPLC’s website that described its mission as seeking to dismantle extremist groups. Separately, it says that SPLC employees used “fictitious entities” to open bank accounts to pay informants without revealing the source and nature of the funds, which entailed making illegal false statements to banks. If convicted on some or all of the counts, the center could face a significant financial penalty. 

SPLC Interim President and CEO Bryan Fair rejected the charges, suggesting the Trump administration was targeting the group for political reasons. “They have made no secret of who they want to protect, and who they want to destroy,” he said. He acknowledged the existence of the informant program but said it was a crucial initiative to gather intelligence on extremist groups and did not run afoul of the law. 

Some legal experts have questioned the strength of the charges, noting that public statements about its mission may be too broad to prove that the SPLC deceived donors. Others suggest the bank fraud charges are more compelling but could require a second grand jury to correct technical errors in statutes used to bring the initial case.

Today, we’ll share views from the right and left on the indictment. Then, Managing Editor Ari Weitzman gives his take.

What the right is saying.

• The right says the indictment reveals the hypocrisy of the SPLC’s work.
• Some argue the center’s credibility should be permanently tarnished.
• Others criticize the media’s reporting on the indictment. 

The Washington Examiner editorial board wrote “the Left’s hate fraud factory [is] exposed.”

“The motive for the SPLC’s funding of hate groups is simple: Without high-profile hate incidents in the news, the SPLC cannot raise the donations it needs to remain relevant. It has a deeply corrupting vested interest in continued social division and appears to have fomented it. It is why the group has been so eager to expand its definition of hate,” the board said. “The SPLC now claims it was paying these violent extremist groups only to protect staff and inform the public, but it also says it stopped all such payments in 2023. That raises an obvious question: If the payments were necessary to protect staff in 2023, why are they no longer needed today?

“Or is the real problem that the SPLC got caught promoting the very hate it claimed to oppose and is now saying whatever it can think of to cover up its role as an agent provocateur and fraudster? The SPLC built its brand by selling fear, and now the mask is off,” the board wrote. “If the indictment’s allegations are true, and that would certainly be in keeping with the loathsome character that the SPLC has displayed for several decades, this was not civil rights work. It was a racket: inflame extremism, exploit the fallout, cash the checks, and smear opponents.”

In The New York Post, Maud Maron said the SPLC “weaponized hate — and hurt the innocent.”

“In 2023, the Southern Poverty Law Center slapped a target on ordinary parents’ backs. That’s when it added Moms for Liberty, Defending Education, and 10 other parents’ rights groups to its list of ‘anti-government extremists’ — feeding them directly into the SPLC’s widely circulated ‘Hate Map,’ alongside neo-Nazi organizations and the Ku Klux Klan. Those designations deserve another look in light of Tuesday’s bombshell Department of Justice announcement,” Maron wrote. “I know from experience that left-wing protesters were emboldened to harass and even physically attack the parents who were associated with the SPLC-smeared groups. Its dishonest label was a powerfully effective tool to damage reputations and sow discord.”

“It’s perfectly reasonable for an organization like the SPLC to pay a member’s fee or to buy an event ticket to access a questionable group’s online material, track its activities or record a speaker. Directing and supervising the very racism you claim to be combating is not so easy to excuse,” Maron said. “By both paying old-school racists to stir up enmity and expanding the pool of targets they could sully as ‘hateful,’ the SPLC was engaged in a two-pronged effort to keep hate alive.”

In National Review, Becket Adams criticized “the media’s Herculean effort to obscure the details of the SPLC indictment.”

“It is possible to hold these two seemingly opposing positions at the same time: that the Justice Department’s case against the Southern Poverty Law Center may be legally questionable, and that the underlying charges are eminently scandalous and newsworthy,” Adams wrote. “It’s all deeply embarrassing for the SPLC, if not outright criminal. Yet you’d hardly know this from following mainstream press coverage. You’d know mostly that a supposedly noble and esteemed anti-racist group is tied up somehow in Trump administration chicanery.”

“‘The Southern Poverty Law Center was indicted for paying sources to infiltrate hate groups, a tactic federal agencies have used for decades,’ reported USA Today. Not even close. ‘Justice Dept. Charges Prominent Civil Rights Group With Financial Crimes,’ reported the New York Times, experimenting with the idea of a headline that says nothing at all,” Adams said. “The DOJ’s case against the SPLC may or may not be too thin to survive… [but] it shouldn’t prevent newsrooms from simply reporting the news, but it has been like pulling teeth trying to find the facts of this story.”

What the left is saying.

• The left is skeptical of the charges, with many calling the Justice Department’s case fundamentally flawed.
• Some say the case is a distraction designed to appease Trump’s base. 
• Others suggest the SPLC’s work is needed now more than ever. 

In Just Security, Andrew Weissmann wrote about “the poverty of the DOJ indictment.”

“[The charges] may sound superficially plausible in a press release against an organization dissimilar to the SPLC, but nothing in the speaking indictment against the Center appears to meet the legal standard required of the two sets of legal charges,” Weissmann said. “Suppose the U.S. repeatedly paid a member of ISIS to disclose information about upcoming ISIS terrorist plans concerning American people and places. The U.S. obtains such information and uses it to thwart these attacks. Would it be correct to say the U.S. is trying to promote ISIS and its attacks? Of course not. But that is the precise theory of the DOJ indictment against the Center.”

“The indictment speaks about millions of dollars being used to pay informants for information, and suggests a scheme awash with donor money for almost a decade, from ‘2014 to 2023.’ But when you get to the actual wire fraud charges, the amounts dwindle to a combined total of a paltry $13,905 on a single day in 2023,” Weissmann wrote. “No explanation has been given by Blanche, Patel, or others for the huge discrepancy between the introductory language (which is not the gravamen of the criminal charges) and what is actually charged… On its own terms, the indictment is frail and deficient. Time will tell if this is not worth the paper it is written on, and is serving a very different extra-legal purpose.”

In MS NOW, Michael Edison Hayden explored “what the DOJ’s Southern Poverty Law Center indictment is really about.”

“Imagine, for a moment, believing the SPLC — or any other civil rights organization — needed to fraudulently manufacture racism to sell it in today’s America. Just two months ago, the president shared an artificial intelligence-generated video depicting his Black predecessor and his predecessor’s Black wife as primates,” Hayden said. “In early 2025, the Trump administration suspended refugee admissions from majority non-white countries while investing in a special program to fast-track white South African Afrikaners into the United States. Racism is not a rare commodity in this country to be manufactured.”

“These charges look like a piece of political theater to shore up a wayward MAGA base beleaguered by the scandal around Jeffrey Epstein and an increasingly unwieldy debacle in Iran. It’s a MAGA base that understands the SPLC as one of the primary villains in its propaganda stories and enjoys seeing it suffer,” Hayden wrote. “If the DOJ argues that paying informants furthers hate, and that this makes the use of paid informants fraudulent, won’t the SPLC’s lawyers simply demonstrate how those efforts contributed to these groups no longer being around? If the SPLC propped up the National Alliance to defraud donors, why is it essentially defunct?”

In Salon, Austin Sarat argued “[the] SPLC indictment lends support to hate groups.”

“Conservatives have charged the organization with abandoning its mission. In their view, the SPLC crossed a red line when it labeled some right-wing organizations, including the Family Research Council, Center for Immigration Studies and Alliance Defending Freedom, as hate or anti-government extremist groups,” Sarat said. “The ideologies being monitored — which include, according to Axios, views that are ‘anti-immigrant, anti-LGBTQ, sexist, racist or bigoted against religions’ — make up an important part of Donald Trump’s political base.”

“Blanche’s attack on the SPLC is politics masquerading as law. It is reprisal and revenge against a group that had the temerity to oppose hate wherever it originates,” Sarat wrote. “And don’t be fooled: If the SPLC can be brought to heel, the hate it opposes will have one less roadblock before it reaches Black and brown Americans, immigrants, women, the LGBTQ community, people with disabilities and others. Today, as in the past, they need the kind of champion the SPLC has been.”

My take.

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• The SPLC almost certainly paid informants, and an indictment to determine criminal wrongdoing seems justified
• Some of the SPLC’s recent actions, and its evolution over time, invite uncomfortable questions
• The DOJ certainly has a political motive here, but that doesn’t discount the possibility of wrongdoing.

Managing Editor Ari Weitzman: The indictment against the SPLC lists several different counts of wire fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy to conceal money laundering. Behind those allegations are three core claims: First, the organization sent roughly $3 million over a decade to members of the KKK and other extremist groups for the purposes of informing on their organizations, including $270,000 (over eight years) to a person who helped organize the 2017 Unite the Right event in Charlottesville, Virginia. Second, the SPLC criminally deceived donors by fundraising with the goal of “[dismantling] violent extremist groups” but instead using funds “to pay high-level leaders of violent extremist groups.” Third, the SPLC broke the law in disbursing these payments, using fictitious companies with generic names like “North West Technologies” or “Rare Books Warehouse” to fund bank accounts paying out informants who at times themselves broke the law.

Whether or not the SPLC did those things, and whether those actions constitute fraud, is for the courts to decide. But we can look at those core claims and draw some reasonable inferences about them based on what we know.

To begin to understand this situation, we have to understand the SPLC’s history. In 1971, lawyers Morris Dees and Joe Levin founded the SPLC as a civil rights legal defense organization, taking pro bono cases in Alabama representing those with civil rights grievances who had difficulty paying for legal representation. Over time, the SPLC grew from a small legal defense nonprofit to an organization that strategically crushed the KKK and other white supremacist groups through lawsuits. After nearly a decade of litigation, the SPLC won a consent decree in Brown v. Invisible Empire, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in 1989, requiring Klansmen to pay damages, perform community service, and refrain from white supremacist activity.

As the SPLC grew more successful, it broadened its targets, but “monitoring” the Klan was always a supporting part of this mission. In 1981, it started a tracking system called “Klanwatch,” with a defined scope and direct tie-in to the nonprofit’s mission of prosecuting civil rights cases. Then in 1998, Klanwatch was rebranded as The Intelligence Project, reflecting the organization’s shift from tracking the KKK to gathering information about an array of extremist and white supremacist organizations. And the SPLC continued to win cases. In 2000, Dees secured a $6.3 million judgment against the Aryan Nations after some of its members shot at and attacked a couple who had stopped to look for a lost wallet outside its headquarters in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. 

Most people don’t know that the SPLC’s use of informants is a decades-old technique — and one used by other civil rights groups. For example, the American Jewish Committee infiltrated neo-Nazi groups to better understand how they operate and communicate with each other. But while that information might not be common knowledge to the average person, SPLC donors may have had a better idea of what was going on. In that regard, the second of the indictment’s core allegations — that the SPLC was defrauding its donors with a bait and switch — is flimsy.

But the indictment’s first claim — that the SPLC was paying members of the KKK — appears rock solid. The Justice Department gathered specific codenames of informants, identified the accounts used to pay them, and even found details of the transactions themselves. The SPLC isn’t even denying that they did this. And the third claim, the one that transitions these facts into criminal allegations of fraud, appears to have some legs to stand on. The SPLC seems to have lied to banks in creating these accounts; the obfuscated payments could have been tax violations; and one of the informants the SPLC funded allegedly stole 25 boxes of documents from the neo-Nazi group National Alliance. 

All of that will be worked out by the courts over time. But right now, in the court of public opinion, we can discuss two larger questions today. First, did the SPLC “funnel money” to the extremist groups? And second, is the DOJ right to bring this case? On the first question, the answer seems to be an uncomfortable “sort of.” Paying informants is very far from funding the KKK itself; but if the facts of the indictment are correct, then the SPLC materially supported an informant while they were helping organize the 2017 Charlottesville rally. A person was killed at that event. It drove a wedge into the country that we’re still recovering from. If the SPLC had any role in supporting people who planned that event, no matter their intention, it’s a serious betrayal of their core mission.

To answer the question of whether the DOJ is right to bring this case, let’s dive into some of the more recent history to explore the different biases at play.

In 2007, the SPLC founded its blog “Hatewatch,” which in 2015 described itself as a blog that “monitors and exposes the activities of the American radical right.” The new branding reflected an increase in the scope of the SPLC’s purview, which broadened to include prisoners’ rights, immigrant/worker protections, and LGBTQ rights. In support of this mission, the SPLC began identifying political activist organizations that supported anti-gay agendas. That led them to designate the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) as an anti-LGBT hate group in 2016, and — now infamously — to put Turning Point USA (TPUSA) on its “Hate Map” in May of 2025, four months before Charlie Kirk’s assassination. 

Over time, the SPLC shifted its focus from defending the civil rights of poor Alabamians to pushing back against a broader definition of right-wing extremism. This change can actually be traced as far back as 1986, when the entire legal staff of the SPLC resigned over the organization’s shift in focus to a broader political fight. At the same time the SPLC altered its internal focus, it continued to exaggerate the threat of the KKK in order to raise money externally. The Montgomery Advertiser was named a Pulitzer finalist for documenting that shift in 1995, along with revealing reports of the SPLC discriminating against black employees. And in a stunning twist, SPLC’s co-founder Morris Dees was fired in 2019 amid sex- and race-discrimination complaints.

On one hand, the organization’s evolution is understandable. The SPLC understands its mission as protecting civil rights and has a history of directly confronting groups who infringe on those civil rights. As such, it makes sense that it would see LGBTQ legal protections as within its purview and groups that question the extent of those legal rights as its new enemies. However, that stance has taken the SPLC to a new modus operandi that is almost unrecognizable from its original mission. No longer a legal tool for fighting extremist hate groups, the SPLC now puts itself into political fights by promoting its Hate Map and applying the “hate” label to conservative groups like TPUSA and the ADF. 

To put my cards on the table, I’m more often than not on the other side of the things TPUSA and the ADF push for — I want less religion in public spaces and I’m staunchly in favor of protecting LGBTQ rights. But it goes too far to lump TPUSA and the ADF into the same category as the KKK and neo-Nazis. Obviously so. But the SPLC decided to label them as hate groups, which opened itself up to counter-attacks. 

It should be clear to everyone that this indictment is, at least in part, a counter-attack — and that the recent history the SPLC has had with conservative groups like TPUSA and the ADF put it on the Trump administration’s radar. As we’ve written about before, any auspices of DOJ independence under President Trump are long gone, and so far in his second term the department has shown a willing eagerness to go after political enemies. The SPLC is a clear candidate. For that reason, the indictment against it makes me uncomfortable. 

Still, this indictment is a lot more substantial than other straightforward political hits, like the James Comey indictment and the Jerome Powell investigation. And the overall contours of the case against the SPLC look incredibly dark: An organization with a history of paying informants, of internal tensions over its direction, and of using questionable practices to drum up support for its causes is accused of sending millions to members of the very organization it became popular fighting against. That seems to me to be enough to justify a prosecution by an independent DOJ — but that’s not the DOJ we have. 

That’s frustrating. The SPLC is responsible for some bedrock civil rights litigations, and a high-profile lawsuit that targets what is ultimately a pretty small amount of money could provide the perfect course correction for an organization that needs it. Instead, the SPLC can dismiss the entire case as a political witch hunt and preserve its reputation. A sane world would invite some accountability; instead, I expect they’ll be using the DOJ indictment as fundraising tomorrow.

Staff dissent — Associate Editor Lindsey Knuth: “An organization with a history of paying informants, of internal tensions over its direction, and using questionable practices drumming up support for its causes is accused of sending millions to members of the very organization it became popular by fighting against,” Ari writes, saying that these facts justify a DOJ investigation into the group. But I think that framing obscures an important distinction: The SPLC’s alleged payment of $3 million over ten years to informants — whose information the organization says was used in litigation that destabilized hate groups and in intelligence reports provided to the FBI — is vastly different from paying KKK members and looking the other way. That practice is longstanding and distinct from funding the groups themselves. Ari also doesn’t address the SPLC’s response to the charges and the mechanism by which they came about. Blanche said on Fox News that the SPLC never shared information with federal law enforcement ahead of the “Unite the Right” rally; the SPLC called that false. And because grand juries deliberate in secret with prosecutors (and return indictments in nearly every case), it is impossible to know exactly how the DOJ presented the facts that led us here.

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ATTACHMENT “A” – FROM “X”

This is a (nearly) complete list of Key U.S. Business Leaders & Executives who accompanied President Trump to China...

· Elon Musk (CEO, Tesla & SpaceX)

· Tim Cook (CEO, Apple)

· Jensen Huang (CEO, Nvidia)

· Larry Fink (CEO, BlackRock)

· Stephen Schwarzman (CEO, Blackstone)

· Jane Fraser (CEO, Citigroup)

· David Solomon (CEO, Goldman Sachs)

· Michael Miebach (CEO, Mastercard)

· Ryan McInerney (CEO, Visa)

· Kelly Ortberg (CEO, Boeing)

· Sanjay Mehrotra (CEO, Micron Technology)

· Cristiano Amon (CEO, Qualcomm)

· Brian Sikes (CEO, Cargill)

· Jim Anderson (CEO, Coherent)

· Larry Culp (CEO, GE Aerospace)

· Jacob Thaysen (CEO, Illumina)

· Dina Powell McCormick (Executive, Meta Platforms) [1, 2, 3]

U.S. Administration Officials [1]

· Marco Rubio (Secretary of State)

· Scott Bessent (Treasury Secretary)

· Pete Hegseth (Defense Secretary)

· Stephen Miller (Deputy Chief of Staff) [1]

Other Attendees

· Eric Trump (Son of President Trump)

· Lara Trump (Wife of Eric Trump) [1, 2]

Notable Absences (noted by “X”)

· Chuck Robbins (CEO, Cisco) was invited but did not attend due to scheduling conflicts. [1, 2]

Not noted in “X”...

Controversial movie producer Brett Ratner, said to be scouting locations for Rush Hour 4 after his biodoc “Melania” about the First Lady.

Melania herself stayed home. No explanation given, but she did agree with her husband that Jimmy Kimmel was a cad for calling her a merry widow just before the National Correspondents’ assassination failure. Don Junior occupied elsewhere, as were the Googlers.