Stephen Colbert is to be investigated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over a joke about President Donald Trump.
The FCC chairman Ajit Pai said the commission received several complaints about the monologue, which some viewers branded homophobic.
It concerned references involving Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.
On Twitter, angry users set hashtag #FireColbert trending worldwide.
Ajit Pai told radio host Rich Zeoli he had now had a chance to watch the controversial clip, which aired on Stephen Colbert’s The Late Showon May 1.
“We have received a number of complaints,” he said.
Image source Wikimedia
“We’ll follow the standard operating procedures, as we always do, and make sure we evaluate what the facts are and apply the law fairly and fully.”
CBS could be fined if the FCC decides that Stephen Colbert’s joke was indecent.
The FCC definition includes remarks that appeal to “an average person’s prurient interest and, taken as a whole, lack serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value”.
Despite demands for him to be fired over the alleged slur, Stephen Colbert said on May 3 that he would change “some of the words” in the monologue but did not regret it.
Stephen Colbert then offered an olive branch to the LGBT community, saying: “Anyone who expresses their love for another person in their own way is, to me, an American hero.”
One Trump supporter who took part in the movement #GaysForTrump, tweeted on May 3 that Stephen Colbert’s original rant was “homophobic” and “disgusting”, while others repeated calls for his sacking.
However, many defended the comedian.
Others noted that Donald Trump had himself been recorded using inappropriate language.
Former Republican Governor and presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee argued that Stephen Colbert should be protected by the First Amendment, which enshrines the right to free speech in the US.
Stephen Colbert has made his debut as CBS’ Late Show host, succeeding David Letterman who retired in May after 33 years.
George Clooney and Republican White House contender Jeb Bush were among Stephen Colbert’s first guests.
The former Colbert Report host opened the show with a sketch, singing the national anthem around the country.
Stephen Colbert also paid tribute to his predecessor David Letterman, calling himself “a fan”.
“We will try to honor his achievement by doing the best show we can and occasionally making the network very mad at us,” he said.
“As long as I have nine months to make one hour of TV, I could do this forever,” Stephen Colbert added.
The comedian played a hardline conservative in his previous show, Comedy Central’s satirical news show The Colbert Report, but he appeared as himself for his mainstream debut.
Stephen Colbert presented his first guest George Clooney with a belated wedding gift for his marriage last year to human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin – a Tiffany paperweight inscribed with the phrase: “I don’t know you.”
He also binged on a bag of Oreo cookies as he made jokes about Donald Trump, who recently vowed never to eat Oreos again after makers Nabisco Inc said it was opening a new plant in Mexico.
Fellow late-night TV figures also wished him well – including NBC rival Jimmy Fallon who said: “Have a good show, buddy. See you in the locker room.”
The broadcast ended with Stephen Colbert singing with his new house band, led by Jon Batiste, in a cover of Sly and the Family Stone’s Everyday People.
They were joined by Mavis Staples, Aloe Blacc, Ben Folds and Buddy Guy, amongst others.
David Letterman’s final show was one of the highest-rated shows of his career.
The final Late Show attracted nearly 13.8 million viewers on May 20.
The last time David Letterman had so many viewers was in February 1994, when his show aired after CBS’ coverage of the Winter Olympics.
David Letterman, now 68, began his late-night career on NBC in 1982, before moving to CBS’s Late Show in 1993.
The finale show, which ran 17 minutes over the usual hour, kicked off with a two-minute standing ovation.
David Letterman was joined by guests including Steve Martin, Peyton Manning, Chris Rock, Jerry Seinfeld, Tina Fey and Jim Carrey.
Foo Fighters performed David Letterman’s favorite song, Everlong. The rock band once performed the song, by request, after David Letterman’s open-heart surgery in 2000.
The finale also saw a rise in viewers for The Late Late Show, which followed directly after. Four million viewers tuned in to watch James Corden, the host’s highest rating over his first two months in the job.
However, David Letterman’s final show failed to draw in as many viewers as Jay Leno’s farewell from The Tonight Show in 2014, which averaged 14.6 million viewers.
Stephen Colbert, host of Comedy Central’s acclaimed late-night show The Colbert Report, will succeed David Letterman.
Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert will succeed Late Show host David Letterman upon his retirement in 2015, CBS has said.
Stephen Colbert, 49, is host of acclaimed late-night satire program The Colbert Report.
David Letterman, 66, said last week he was retiring after 21 years hosting the CBS show and 11 years on NBC’s Late Night.
On his show, Stephen Colbert plays a satirical version of himself to mock right-wing pundits. He has suggested he will retire the character for the new show.
Stephen Colbert will succeed Late Show host David Letterman upon his retirement in 2015 (photo CBS)
“Stephen Colbert is one of the most inventive and respected forces on television,” CBS president Leslie Moonves wrote in a statement following the announcement.
“David Letterman’s legacy and accomplishments are an incredible source of pride for all of us here, and today’s announcement speaks to our commitment of upholding what he established for CBS in late night.”
Stephen Colbert’s biting brand of satire has drawn critical acclaim as well as provoking ire, often from the Republicans and conservatives he skewers.
Recently he was attacked on social media for a joke some viewed as disparaging toward Asian Americans but which he meant as a satirical jab at the owner of the Washington Redskins American football team.
Of his hiring to the Late Show top spot, Stephen Colbert said, “simply being a guest on David Letterman’s show has been a highlight of my career.”
“I never dreamed that I would follow in his footsteps, though everyone in late night follows Dave’s lead.”
Donald Trump has made his first public appearance since “huge announcement” as a guest on the Late Show With David Letterman to further explain the offer which turned out to be a $5 million charity donation in exchange for Barack Obama’s old college and passport records.
When asked by David Letterman why he was orchestrating the demand, Donald Trump replied: “Transparency.”
He added: “There’s too much we don’t know about our president.”
When David Letterman asked what kind of damning evidence would be revealed by college records, Donald Trump said: “A line saying place of birth” – an apparent indication that Trump still may not believe the president was born in the U.S., despite Barack Obama’s release of his birth certificate last year.
“I hope everything [in Obama’s records] is perfect – and it might be.”
“If it was negative – there wouldn’t be an election.”
On the subject of Barack Obama’s birth certificate, Donald Trump said that it took Obama six years to provide it, when “I could give it to you in less than an hour.”
As the audience applauded, Donald Trump raised his hands, relishing in the moment on the late night stage.
But David Letterman ordered the crowd to stop clapping, saying “the breeze will disturb [Trump’s] hair”.
Moving along, Donald Trump said that what he likes most about Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is his stance on China before showing off his shirt and tie line currently being sold at Macy’s stores.
But as David Letterman quickly revealed, the ties were made in China.
Donald Trump has made his first public appearance since huge announcement on the Late Show With David Letterman
Hours earlier, Donald Trump has received an counter-offer to his “bordering-on-gigantic” news about the President.
Donald Trump had hyped his “big reveal” for several days on major news outlets while incessantly tweeting about his “game changer” information in the final weeks before the election.
Political satirist Stephen Colbert has now ramped up the stakes for the Apprentice star by offering Donald Trump a donation to a charity of his choice – with rather more x-rated consequences.
On his Comedy Central show The Colbert Report, the sarcastic host told the audience: “Mr. Trump, I will write you a cheque to the charity of your choice for $1million…. if you will let me dip my balls in your mouth.”
Stephen Colbert added: “Nothing would make me happier than to write this cheque… and nothing would make America happier than something going into your mouth instead of coming out of it.”
Donald Trump had yet to respond to Stephen Colbert’s offer which the comic set for “5:00 p.m. on October 31” – the same deadline that Trump gave Barack Obama.
The billionaire made his YouTube offer on Wednesday at noon, promising to donate $5 million to a charity of Barack Obama’s choice if he revealed the information.
Donald Trump denied his elaborate staging was a publicity stunt, insisting this was “not a media event”, but instead is “about the United States of America”.
Stephen Colbert, who is left-leaning, was far from the only public figure to mock the billionaire businessman.
Broadcaster Barbara Walters scolded her “friend” on The View today saying: “Donald, you’re not hurting Obama, you’re hurting Donald, and that hurts me because you’re a decent man.”
Donald Trump was characteristically unrepentant today, returning to Twitter to directly respond: “@BarbaraJWalters @theviewtv – Why did you choose me as one of the 10 Most Fascinating People of the Year last season (and more than once?)”
The Internet exploded yesterday with mock responses to Donald Trump’s announcement.
Comedian Andy Borowitz tweeted: “Attention parents: if you give your children even the tiniest bit of attention now, maybe they won’t grow up to be Donald Trump.”
Observers on the right also slated Donald Trump, who has publicly endorsed Republican Mitt Romney.
Jim Geraghty of the conservative National Review, wrote: “If at any point you seriously considered Donald Trump for president, please study the error of your ways in quiet, private contemplation.”
However there was support for Donald Trump’s actions with those echoing his call for most transparency from the President including conservative talk show host Sean Hannity and Ann Coulter.
The Wikipedia pages dedicated to US presidential candidate Mitt Romney and other members of the Republican Party who may run alongside him have been locked down.
Wikipedia has put a silver padlock icon on the top right hand side of their entries.
This means that anonymous users cannot make editorial changes to content relating to the politicians.
The measures were taken after comedian Stephen Colbert suggested on US TV that viewers should edit the pages.
Wikipedia locked Mitt Romney entries after comedian Stephen Colbert suggested on US TV that viewers should edit the pages
Stephen Colbert was following up on earlier media reports suggesting that the popularity of election candidates could be determined by the number of edits their entries on Wikipedia had received, said volunteer media coordinator David Gerard.
As a result, more people started to tinker with the politicians’ pages.
They now have a partial lock, meaning that anonymous users and those without a Wikipedia account are currently unable to make changes to the pages of Mitt Romney, Senators Rob Portman and Marco Rubio, Governor Chris Christie and others.
“It’s supposed to be an encyclopedia so a bit of amusement is fine but too much gets messy really,” said David Gerard.
“We try to keep stuff as open as possible, so once it calms down they’ll probably be open again.”
It is particularly important that entries about living people are editorially sound, David Gerard said.
Not many pages are completely locked down.
A Wikipedia page about the Virginia Tech massacre, in which 32 people were killed at an American college, is fully protected for sensitivity reasons, and an article about episodes of Disney children’s programme Hannah Montana was completely restricted in 2011 following “persistent vandalism” said David Gerard.
“A lot of people don’t understand what to do if there’s something terrible in their article,” he said.
“If you email us with a concern I promise a volunteer will take the problems seriously.”
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