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USA's communication watchdog will investigate Colbert's comments

The United States’ Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will investigate comments made by late night talk show host Stephen Colbert.

Ajit Pai, the chair of the FCC said they had received a number of complaints and would look into whether the comments breached broadcasting laws. The chair of the FCC made his comments during a radio interview.

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On Monday night’s edition of The Late Show Colbert delivered a monologue that focused on the performance of President Donald Trump.

In a quick fire delivery of insults directed at the President, Colbert said, “The only thing [Trump’s] mouth is good for is being Vladimir Putin’s cock holster.”

On Wednesday night the host responded to complaints about his comments saying in retrospect he would have changed a few words in his delivery.

“So at the end of that monologue I had a few choice insults for the president in return. I don’t regret that. He, I believe, can take care of himself. I have jokes; he has the launch codes. So, it’s a fair fight,” Colbert said.

The host said many had considered his comments to be lewd and offensive, and in retrospect he could have changed a few words that were cruder than they needed to be.

“I’m not going to repeat the phrase, but I just want to say for the record, life is short, and anyone who expresses their love for another person, in their own way, is to me, an American hero. I think we can all agree on that. I hope even the president and I can agree on that. Nothing else. But, that.”

Potentially broadcaster CBS could face fine if the comments are found to be “indecent”. The government body defines indecency as anything that appeals to “an average person’s prurient interest; depict or describe sexual conduct in a ‘patently offensive’ way; and, taken as a whole, lack serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value”.

OIP Staff

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