Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr is ordering an early review of the broadcast licenses for eight Disney-owned ABC stations, according to The Wall Street Journal, a highly unusual step that comes just days after both First Lady Melania Trump and President Donald Trump demanded Jimmy Kimmel be fired over a late-night joke.
- The Federal Communications Commission is starting an unusually early review of eight Disney-owned ABC station licenses — days after the Trumps called for Jimmy Kimmel's firing.
- Melania was the first to speak out publicly, calling Kimmel's remarks 'hateful and violent rhetoric' and urging ABC to 'take a stand.'
- Trump followed by calling for Kimmel to be 'immediately fired by Disney and ABC' — with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also calling his comments 'completely deranged.'
- The Kimmel clash is part of a broader pattern where Trump has targeted late-night hosts critical of him.
The move emerged on April 28 and centers on Disney and ABC stations years before their licenses would normally be scrutinized. While the review officially ties back to an ongoing examination of Disney’s DEI policies by the FCC, its timing has intensified questions about whether the administration’s latest clash with Kimmel and ABC helped accelerate the decision.
Donald and Melania Trump called for Jimmy Kimmel’s firing after his ‘expectant widow’ joke
Image credits: drcarmen / Flickr
The dispute escalated in late April after Kimmel, during his monologue on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, referred to Melania Trump as an “expectant widow” days before a reported shooting incident at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. On April 27, Melania was the first to speak out publicly, posting on X and calling out Kimmel’s remarks as “hateful and violent rhetoric” intended to divide the country. She urged the network to act directly, writing that it was time for ABC to “take a stand” and that “people like Kimmel shouldn’t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate.”
Hours later, Trump followed up on Truth Social, going further and calling for Kimmel to be outright removed—saying his comments were “something far beyond the pale” and that he should be “immediately fired by Disney and ABC.” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also weighed in during a press briefing, calling Kimmel’s comments “completely deranged.”
A day after the Trumps’ public statements, CNBC reported that the FCC had begun reviewing Disney’s broadcast licenses years ahead of schedule, a move first reported by the Journal and Semafor. That sequence has fueled immediate scrutiny because the action involves one of the country’s biggest media companies at a moment when its relationship with the White House is already under strain.
The FCC has framed the review around Disney’s DEI policies. But the overlap between the regulatory action and the fight over Kimmel has become the central issue in the public discussion. Critics say the timing makes the move look political, while supporters argue the FCC has a duty to review license holders if broader compliance questions exist.
Image credits: Erin Scott / Wikimedia Commons
The clash with Kimmel and ABC is not happening in a vacuum. Since returning to the White House, Trump has repeatedly called for the firing of late-night hosts who criticize him and suggested their networks should lose broadcast licenses as a result. Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, and Jimmy Fallon have all been frequent personal targets.
The consequences have already been real: Colbert’s Late Show was canceled after he mocked a $16 million settlement between CBS parent Paramount and Trump—calling it a “big fat bribe”—at a moment when Paramount was awaiting FCC approval for its Skydance merger. Trump made no secret of his delight, and quickly declared that Kimmel was “next.”
Meyers and Fallon have faced similar treatment, with Trump calling for their firings on Truth Social. FCC Chair Brendan Carr even reposted Trump’s call to fire Meyers, drawing widespread criticism over First Amendment concerns.
Disney faces growing pressure as the FCC review adds regulatory and financial risk
Image credits: FCC / Wikimedia Commons
The story did not stop with the regulatory filing. By April 29, Disney stock had dropped as investors weighed the growing reputational and regulatory risk around the company, according to TipRanks. That market reaction suggested the clash was no longer just another political-media feud playing out on social media and late-night TV. The FCC has ordered Disney to respond by May 28.
It is also worth noting that this is not Disney’s first run-in with the Trump administration. In December 2024, ABC News agreed to pay $15 million toward Trump’s future presidential library to settle a defamation lawsuit brought by the president against the network and anchor George Stephanopoulos.
The company previously cut ties with a national correspondent after he made critical remarks about Trump and Stephen Miller on social media. The current FCC review arrives on top of all that history — and lands in the lap of new Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro, who only took the helm last month.
Kimmel, meanwhile, doubled down on his criticism in his next broadcast, defending the joke as being about the couple’s age difference and insisting it was “not, by any stretch of the definition, a call for assassination.”
Image credits: Ken Lund / Flickr
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