FCC to 'take appropriate action' against Colbert following 'Late Show' Trump rant

Stephen Colbert's rant about President Donald Trump may have just gotten some unwanted attention from the FCC.

His Wednesday night comments, which prompted the hashtag #FireColbert, included a slew of insults hurled at Trump. One of the more controversial statements included Colbert saying, "The only thing your mouth is good at is being [Russian President] Vladimir Putin's c--- holster."

The satirical monologue was spurred by Trump telling Colbert's CBS coworker and "Face the Nation" host John Dickerson that he calls his show "Deface the Nation."

When initially asked about Colbert's comments, FCC Chair Ajit Pai told NewsmaxTV Wednesday that "it's a free country."

"The FCC — outside of our decency rules — we don't get into the business of regulating content," Pai said. "What I can say is that I realize this is a politically polarized time and I would hope that everyone can participate in the public discourse in a way that's civil and operates in good faith."

1. Inauguration Day Donald Trump was sworn-in as president Jan. 20, 2017 in Washington, D.C. 1. Inauguration Day Donald Trump was sworn-in as president Jan. 20, 2017 in Washington, D.C. Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images Image 1 of / 15 Caption Close FCC to 'take appropriate action' against Colbert following 'Late Show' Trump rant 1 / 15 Back to Gallery

However, Pai has since changed course. On Thursday, he told Talk Radio 1210 WPHT that the agency received "a number" of complaints about Colbert's monologue, and that the FCC will investigate whether or not the "Late Show" broke rules.

"I have had a chance to see the clip now and so, as we get complaints, and we've gotten a number of them, we are going to take the facts that we find and we are going to apply the law as it's been set out by the Supreme Court and other courts and we'll take the appropriate action," he said.

Because Colbert's show is on at 11:35 p.m., it's not subjected to the same decency laws that apply to earlier television programming on before 10 p.m. As a result, the "Late Show" must only avoid "obscene" content, classified as such:

"It must appeal 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."

Colbert, for his part, is not apologizing.

"He, I believe, can take care of himself," Colbert said of Trump after his show taped on Wednesday. "I have jokes; he has the launch codes. So, it's a fair fight."

Alyssa Pereira is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at apereira@sfchronicle.com or find her on Twitter at @alyspereira.

