The Federal Communications Commission has ordered The Walt Disney Company's ABC to seek early broadcast license renewals for the eight TV stations it owns.
The move follows criticism from first lady Melania Trump who objected to a joke about her made by late night comedian Jimmy Kimmel. President Donald Trump followed up with a social media post calling for Kimmel to be fired.
As the early license renewal order went out, FCC Chair Brendan Carr criticized ABC's parent company, Disney. Speaking on a podcast hosted by Katie Miller — whose husband is White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller — Carr said there are multiple ways the FCC can handle broadcast licenses.
"You can accelerate when a license comes due and say, 'hey, we have significant concerns with the value of conducting your operations. We want to review your license now and decide if you're in the public interest,'" Carr said. "If we find that a broadcast hasn't been doing that, then the statute requires us to issue a hearing designation order."
Carr criticized Disney's diversity, equity and inclusion policies, but did not specifically mention Jimmy Kimmel Live!
The FCC's order comes after Kimmel made a joke during a sketch on his late night show — a mock speech for an alternative White House Correspondents' Dinner. "Our first lady Melania is here. So beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow," Kimmel quipped.
The sketch aired three days before the actual White House Correspondents' Dinner, when a heavily armed man allegedly attempted to enter the ballroom where President Trump and other senior members of the administration were present. The suspect, Cole Allen, was charged Monday with attempting to assassinate the president.
In a post on X, Melania Trump called Kimmel's joke about her "hateful and violent" and urged ABC — which airs his show — to take action.
Kimmel responded on his show the following Monday, defending the joke. "Obviously [it] was a joke about their age difference, and the look of joy we see on her face every time they're together." He said it was a "light roast" and was "not, by any stretch of the definition, a call to assassination. And they know that." Kimmel added that he's been very vocal for many years against gun violence.
This is not the first time, Kimmel, ABC or Disney have faced backlash from the Trump administration. In September, Disney briefly suspended Kimmel's show after the comedian said the "MAGA gang" was trying to score political points from the assassination of Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk. The comments prompted a backlash from conservatives, and Carr warned that the FCC could take action against ABC affiliates that continued airing the show.
"Look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way," Carr said on a podcast hosted by Benny Johnson in September. "These companies can find ways to change conduct … or there's going to be additional work for the FCC ahead."
Kimmel's show was reinstated six days later after leading entertainment figures and even conservatives, including Senator Ted Cruz criticized Kimmel's sidelining.
Now, the FCC is ordering Disney and ABC to file a license renewal application for the stations within 30 days. Those licenses were not scheduled for renewal until 2028 at the earliest.
In a statement, a Disney spokesperson said the company has always complied with FCC rules and is confident it meets the qualifications to remain a license holder.
The new FCC order is drawing scrutiny from Democrats on Capitol Hill and others in Washington. "The FCC has just pulled out a sword to hang over every single news organization in America," Sen. Elizabeth Warren told NPR. "And to say: you report things that Donald Trump doesn't like and your entire station, your entire outfit, your entire business model could just disappear in the blink of an eye."
FCC Commissioner Anna M. Gomez, the commission's lone Democrat, wrote in a statement, "This is the most egregious action this FCC has taken in violation of the First Amendment to date." The commissioner added, "As part of its ongoing campaign of censorship and control, the White House called publicly for the silencing of a vocal critic, and this FCC has now answered that call."
First Amendment advocates have also weighed in, "this is all an exercise to intimidate broadcasters," Andrew J. Schwartzman, a longtime public interest media lawyer, told NPR.
Schwartzman said the process of early license renewal could take years and could ultimately result in broadcasters losing their licenses, calling it "harassment." He went on to say that, "Brendan Carr knows full well that he lacks any legitimate legal basis for taking action against these broadcasters. He's trying to harass and bludgeon them," Schwartzman said.
Schwartzman is representing a group of former FCC chairs and the Radio Television Digital News Association, which filed a petition in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. The group is asking the FCC to repeal its News Distortion policy, which Schwartzman argues is being used to influence coverage, including commentary from figures like Kimmel.
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