FCC Orders Disney to File Early Renewals for ABC Stations After Jimmy Kimmel Melania Joke

The Federal Communications Commission ordered Disney’s eight owned-and-operated television stations to file early broadcast license renewals, directing the company to submit the renewals ahead of schedule as part of an FCC investigation into Disney’s DEI practices.

NBC News reported that the FCC issued the order Tuesday and that the move was “tied to a yearlong investigation into Disney’s DEI practices,” with a source saying it “got fast-tracked after ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel made a joke about first lady Melania Trump.”

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The FCC’s order required compliance within 30 days, and the licenses were “not due to come up for renewal until 2028 at the earliest,” according to NBC News.

In the Guardian’s account, the FCC said the eight ABC-owned stations were “not scheduled to have to apply for renewal until 2028 at the earliest and 2031 at the latest,” but now “they are required to file for renewal by 28 May, years ahead of when they were originally required to do so.”

The Guardian listed the eight targeted stations as “WABC-TV New York, KABC-TV Los Angeles, WLS-TV Chicago, WPVI-TV Philadelphia, KTRK-TV Houston, KGO-TV San Francisco, WTVD-TV Raleigh-Durham and KFSN-TV Fresno.”

Ars Technica described the FCC’s order as instructing ABC owner Disney to file early license renewal applications for all of its licensed TV stations “by May 28,” and it quoted the FCC’s rationale that “whenever the FCC regards an application for a renewal of a license as essential to the proper conduct of an investigation, the FCC has the authority to call the broadcaster’s licenses in for early renewal.”

Reuters similarly described the FCC’s action as reviewing Disney’s ABC station licenses after the Jimmy Kimmel joke, and NPR said the FCC ordered Disney and ABC to file the license renewal application for the stations “within 30 days.”

The FCC’s accelerated license renewal order arrived after a dispute between President Trump, first lady Melania Trump, and ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel over a joke Kimmel made about the first lady.

NBC News said the FCC action was “fast-tracked after ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel made a joke about first lady Melania Trump,” and it quoted the FCC’s statement that “calling in Disney’s ABC licenses for early renewal, at this time, under the Communications Act’s public interest standard is essential within the meaning of agency regulations.”

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The New York Post quoted Kimmel’s monologue line as: “Our first lady, Melania, is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.”

The Guardian described the same segment as “a glow like an expectant widow,” and it said the joke was made “two days before an attempted shooting – allegedly targeting Trump’s administration – interrupted the annual White House correspondents’ dinner.”

Time Magazine tied the sequence together by saying the FCC order came “shortly after the White House, First Lady Melania Trump, and the President attacked late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel,” and it quoted the first lady’s post calling Kimmel’s words “hateful and violent.”

NPR reported that Kimmel defended the joke on his show the following Monday, saying, “Obviously [it] was a joke about their age difference, and the look of joy we see on her face every time they’re together.”

NPR also quoted Kimmel’s defense that it was “not, by any stretch of the definition, a call to assassination. And they know that.”

NBC News said the White House intensified pressure on ABC to fire Kimmel, and it linked that pressure to a gunman opening fire outside the correspondents’ association event in Washington.

The FCC framed its action as grounded in its authority to accelerate renewal when it deems it essential to an investigation, and it linked the order to an inquiry into Disney’s DEI practices rather than to Kimmel’s speech.

NBC News quoted an FCC spokesperson saying: “As the agency decision makes clear, the early renewal order is based on a long running FCC investigation into Disney’s DEI conduct, not any speech.”

Ars Technica likewise quoted the FCC’s explanation that “whenever the FCC regards an application for a renewal of a license as essential to the proper conduct of an investigation, the FCC has the authority to call the broadcaster’s licenses in for early renewal.”

The Guardian added that David J Brown, chief of the video division at the FCC’s media bureau, wrote in a memo that “The FCC determines that calling in Disney’s ABC licenses for early renewal, at this time, under the Communications Act’s public interest standard is essential within the meaning of agency regulations.”

In its statement, Disney confirmed it had received the FCC’s order and repeated that it believes it remains qualified to hold licenses under the Communications Act and the First Amendment.

NBC News quoted a Disney spokesperson saying: “ABC and its stations have a long record of operating in full compliance with FCC rules and serving their local communities with trusted news, emergency information, and public‑interest programming,” and it added: “We are confident that record demonstrates our continued qualifications as licensees under the Communications Act and the First Amendment and are prepared to show that through the appropriate legal channels.”

The New York Post included the same Disney language, stating: “We have received the Federal Communications Commission’s order initiating an accelerated review of the licenses held by ABC’s owned television stations.”

NPR reported that FCC Chair Brendan Carr criticized Disney’s diversity, equity and inclusion policies on a podcast and said the FCC 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,'” and it quoted Carr’s description of the next step as a “hearing designation order.”

The accelerated review order triggered sharp criticism from Democrats on the FCC and from free-speech advocates who argued the move was retaliatory and unprecedented.

NBC News quoted FCC commissioner Anna M. Gomez, the lone Democratic appointee on the three-person panel, saying: “This is unprecedented, unlawful, and going nowhere. It is a political stunt and it won’t stick. Companies should challenge it head-on. The First Amendment is on their side.”

Ars Technica

The Guardian similarly quoted Gomez writing on X: “This is unprecedented, unlawful, and going nowhere,” and it described her argument that the FCC’s process is designed to prevent any appearance of partisan decision-making.

NPR reported that Gomez wrote, “This is the most egregious action this FCC has taken in violation of the First Amendment to date,” and it added that she said the FCC was answering “that call.”

PEN America’s statement called the FCC’s accelerated review “blatant intimidation” and said the timing “came just one day after President Trump called for the firing of ABC late night host Jimmy Kimmel,” adding that “If comedians can’t make jokes about the President without fear of blatant government retaliation, then what’s the First Amendment for?”

NPR also quoted Sen. Elizabeth Warren saying: “The FCC has just pulled out a sword to hang over every single news organization in America,” and it quoted her framing of the threat as “your entire station, your entire outfit, your entire business model could just disappear in the blink of an eye.”

Andrew J. Schwartzman, a longtime public interest media lawyer, told NPR that the process “could take years” and could result in broadcasters losing their licenses, calling it “harrassment.”

Free Press accused FCC Chairman Brendan Carr of “using his position of power to silence dissent at the president’s beck and call,” and it said the action was “nothing more than another favor to the most fragile president in U.S. history.”

The FCC’s order set a near-term deadline for Disney to file, and multiple outlets described the legal and procedural path that could follow if the FCC finds violations.

Time Magazine quoted the FCC’s filing directing Disney to file renewals “within 30 days — in other words, by May 28, 2026,” and it said Disney confirmed it had received the FCC order “initiating an accelerated review” of ABC-owned television stations.

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Ars Technica described the FCC’s order as requiring early license renewal applications for all of its licensed TV stations “by May 28,” and it emphasized that the legal process for revoking licenses is difficult.

The Guardian said the FCC’s next step, if it determines a broadcaster is in violation, would be “a hearing designation,” which Carr said was a “multi-month process.”

NBC News reported that the stations have “30 days to comply with the FCC’s order,” and it said the company had received the FCC’s order in a statement.

The New York Post added that if the FCC decides to block renewal, “the Disney-owned network could try to stop the agency in the courts,” which could “tie up the network in an expensive, long legal battle.”

NPR described the FCC’s authority in Carr’s words, saying “You can accelerate when a license comes due” and that if the FCC finds a broadcaster “hasn’t been doing that,” “the statute requires us to issue a hearing designation order.”

Together, the reporting shows that the immediate consequence is a compressed renewal timetable for the eight named stations, while the longer-term stakes include the possibility of a hearing designation and potential court challenges.