FCC Won't Punish Colbert for Trump Remarks

Stephen Colbert will not be punished for the crude joke about President Trump that led to thousands of complaints and a campaign under the #FireColbert hashtag, the Federal Communications Commission has decided. The FCC says it will take no action against the Late Show host over his May 1 joke suggesting Trump performed oral sex on Vladimir Putin, Reuters reports. "Consistent with standard operating procedure, the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau has reviewed the complaints and the material that was the subject of these complaints," the agency said in a statement Tuesday, per Variety.

An FCC spokesman says the agency has "concluded that there was nothing actionable under the FCC's rules," which allow "indecent" or "profane" content after 10pm, but ban content deemed "obscene" at any time. The conservative Parents Television Council says it agrees with the ruling, Reuters reports. The joke "was crude. It was indecent. But it was protected speech," PTC President Tim Winter says. (More Stephen Colbert stories.)