FCC: No punishment for late-night host Colbert's Trump joke

May 23, 2017 12:00 am • Last Updated: May 24, 2017 4:29 pm

By By TALI ARBEL

In this March 27, 2017, file photo, Stephen Colbert, host of "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," appears during a taping of his show in New York. A Federal Communications Commission spokesman said Tuesday, May 23, 2017, that the agency received “thousands” of complaints about Colbert’s May 1 monologue about President Donald Trump, so it reviewed the material as “standard operating procedure.” It’s the FCC’s job to police obscene or indecent material on TV if there have been complaints. The agency found that the joke did not rise to a level that warranted punishment. (Richard Boeth/CBS via AP)

NEW YORK (AP) — There will be no fine for Stephen Colbert's risque joke about President Donald Trump.

A Federal Communications Commission spokesman said Tuesday that the agency received "thousands" of complaints about the late-night host's May 1 show, so it reviewed the material as "standard operating procedure." It's the FCC's job to police obscene or indecent material on TV when it receives complaints.

The agency found that the joke, which involved Trump, Russian leader Vladimir Putin and a crude word for penis, did not warrant punishment.

Colbert's politically-tinged "Late Show," rife with Trump jokes, has become the most popular of the late-night circuit.

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