ABC Says FCC License Review Is Retaliation Over Jimmy Kimmel

Jimmy Kimmel is at the center of ABC’s argument that the FCC’s accelerated review of its station licenses is an act of political retaliation by the Trump administration.

In a 119-page filing submitted Thursday, Disney pointed to FCC Chair Brendan Carr’s warning last fall that ABC either “take action on Kimmel” or face “additional work for the FCC,” then argued Carr followed through when the agency ordered eight ABC-owned stations to seek early license renewals one day after Melania and Donald Trump both objected to another Kimmel monologue.

The filing, submitted in response to petitions challenging the licenses of ABC’s owned-and-operated stations, accuses the FCC of using its regulatory authority to punish the company over the content of its programming.

“For the first time in history,” ABC writes, the FCC has ordered an entire group of local television stations owned by a broadcast network to undergo simultaneous license renewal proceedings years before their licenses were set to expire.

“There is no question why the Commission is singling out these eight stations,” the filing argues. “Each is owned by ABC, and the Administration has openly and repeatedly called for the revocation of ABC’s licenses, because it dislikes the content and viewpoints expressed on ABC network programs.”

ABC repeatedly ties that alleged campaign to Kimmel.

The company recounts Carr’s comments following Kimmel’s remarks that led to his suspension last September, when the FCC chair warned, “We can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to take action on Kimmel, or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”

“The danger became real when the FCC Chairman acted on his threat,” the filing states. “Just one day after the President objected to another Kimmel comment, the agency ordered the accelerated review of the Stations’ licenses.”

The April dispute centered on a joke Kimmel made during a faux White House Correspondents’ Dinner roast, which Melania later characterized as a call to violence. The FCC said its early-renewal order was tied to an ongoing investigation into Disney’s diversity, equity, and inclusion practices; ABC now argues that rationale was a pretext for retaliation over protected speech.

Carr has previously denied that the license review was connected to Kimmel or prompted by pressure from Trump. Speaking two days after the FCC issued its order, Carr said the decision was made internally based on the agency’s investigation into alleged discriminatory practices at Disney and ABC.

“There was no pressure from the outside, there was no suggestion from the outside, there was no call for agency action from the outside,” Carr said at the time. He acknowledged that the order arrived amid renewed criticism of Kimmel, but insisted that concerns about unlawful discrimination were “the basis for our decision.”

The review remains formally tied to the FCC’s investigation of Disney’s DEI policies. Carr has acknowledged, however, that once the stations filed their renewal applications, outside parties were free to submit petitions raising other objections—including complaints related to Kimmel’s speech.

“The retaliation against ABC is a signal to every media company in the country,” the filing says. “Accommodate the Administration’s view of what news coverage should look like or pay the price.”

Elsewhere, ABC argues the FCC has no authority to use broadcast licensing to police comedy or opinion programming, specifically citing Jimmy Kimmel Live! alongside The View. Even if those programs contained factual inaccuracies, the company argues, “isolated mistake[s]” cannot constitute news distortion, and applying the FCC’s policy to “a late-night monologue or opinion commentary would push the rule well past the constitutional breaking point.”

ABC also pointed to what it described as overwhelming public support for its stations. According to the filing, the FCC has received more than 140,000 comments in the license-renewal docket, with more than 95% supporting the stations and urging the agency not to disrupt their service.

The company argues its stations have “served the public interest with distinction” for decades and that the FCC’s unprecedented early renewal process “rests on an unconstitutional premise” by attempting to punish ABC for exercising its First Amendment rights.

The FCC is expected to decide the fate of the ABC licenses next month. Chairman Brendan Carr could approve or deny the renewal applications, order formal hearings, or refer the dispute to an administrative law judge.

Read Disney’s full filing below: