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| Late Show host Stephen Colbert has declined to apologise for his monologue |
US comedian Stephen Colbert is to be
investigated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over a joke
about President Donald Trump.
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| Colbert may avoid a fine because his show airs after the 22:00 watershed |
Mr Pai told radio host Rich Zeoli he had now had a chance to watch the controversial clip, which aired on Colbert's CBS programme The Late Show last Monday.
"We have received a number of complaints," Mr Pai said. "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."
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CBS could be fined if it decides that Colbert's joke was indecent.
What counts as 'indecent'?
The FCC definition includes remarks that appeal to "an average person's prurient interest" or that "depict or describe sexual conduct in a 'patently offensive' way; and, taken as a whole, lack serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value".However, Colbert could escape a fine on the basis that The Late Show airs at 23:30 EST (04:30 GMT) - outside the hours of 06:00 and 22:00 local time, when it is assumed that children could be watching.
The FCC's website claims it does not take action against sexually explicit content aired after those hours, to safeguard "constitutionally-protected free speech rights of adults".
As The Late Show is pre-taped, the editors had also bleeped out the most offensive language before it was broadcast.