FCC won't pursue action against Stephen Colbert for Trump-Putin 'c*ck holster' joke

Sarah D. | 5:01 PM on May 23, 2017

Can't blame the average person for not knowing the FCC's arbitrary indecency standards. But this Colbert thing is a non-story. Here's why 1/

— Dylan McLemore (@voiceofD) May 6, 2017

Reports earlier this month that the FCC had launched an “investigation” into Stephen Colbert over his crude “c*ck holster” joke about Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin had many liberals in a frenzy. As it turned out, the reports were, shall we say, overblown.

Still, anyone freaking out about Colbert being persecuted by the speech police can hopefully rest easy now:

FCC will not take action over Stephen Colbert's Trump remarks https://t.co/mwRJqxREa4 pic.twitter.com/pq6CXlQRrX

— Variety (@Variety) May 23, 2017

More from Variety:

The FCC received thousands of complaints following the broadcast. In response to an inquiry, an FCC spokesman provided a statement on the status of its review.

“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 FCC statement said. “The Bureau has concluded that there was nothing actionable under the FCC’s rules.”

…

The FCC’s conclusion means that it found that Colbert’s remark did not rise to the level of obscenity or indecency to warrant any kind of sanction or fine. That appeared to be highly unlikely, given the circumstances. Broadcasters have a safe harbor for indecent or profane content between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., although they can face penalties for airing obscene content at any hour.