Disney, ABC take FCC fight to court, citing Trump's remarks on reporters and broadcasters

WASHINGTON, DC: Disney on Thursday, September 17, asked a federal judge to block the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from conducting early reviews of eight Disney-owned station licenses, arguing that President Donald Trump’s repeated threats against reporters and broadcasters support its case.

In a court filing, Disney and ABC said FCC Chair Brendan Carr has been carrying out Trump’s directives targeting speech critical of the administration.

The filing also comes as ABC and the White House remain at odds over allegations that FCC pressure affected a Jimmy Kimmel interview with the Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico.

ABC cites Trump threats in challenge to FCC license reviews

Disney and ABC said in their filing that Carr has made clear that he is implementing Trump’s specific directives “aimed at curbing speech critical of the administration.”

The company argued that Carr’s actions are improper and said that Trump has indicated that the FCC chairman could be removed if he is “insufficiently responsive to his directives, the president could fire the chairman at will.”

The filing pointed to a series of public statements made by Trump targeting broadcasters, reporters and programs he has criticized.

The motion alleges that Trump has repeatedly called on broadcasters to remove comedy or news programming he objects to and has also urged the FCC to take action against stations’ licenses.

Carr ordered the early reviews of Disney’s eight ABC station licenses in April, despite the licenses not being scheduled for consideration until October 2028.

According to Disney, the FCC had not ordered such an early review in more than 50 years. The reviews were ordered one day after Trump called for ABC to fire Kimmel.

Disney has also cited Trump’s recent comments about NBC’s 'Meet the Press' anchor Kristen Welker and an ABC White House reporter on September 11 who asked about potential $5,000 stimulus checks, saying: "You're the worst."  

On August 30, Trump said that Welker should be reported to the FCC for “rebuke or punishment,” after Welker said that Trump’s noted success in endorsing political ⁠candidates has been mixed.

Disney alleged that Carr had warned after Trump's threat that the commission could soon issue guidance to broadcast television networks over what the administration described as "fake polls."

The company said Carr is following Trump’s “retaliatory directives and using early license renewals to punish broadcasters for disfavored speech.”

Jimmy Kimmel-James Talarico dispute adds to ABC-FCC tensions

Last week, another dispute involving ABC, Kimmel and the FCC surfaced over an interview with Talarico.

The late-night host said that the interview would not air on television because the FCC had “threatened” him, ABC, his program and local stations over what he described as “simple, traditional” editorial decisions.

The interview was instead released on YouTube. 

The White House firmly rejected Kimmel’s account. Spokesperson Davis Ingle accused the comedian of “play-acting” and creating a “false narrative,” while saying Carr had also not threatened Kimmel over Talarico or any other candidate.

Following the allegations by Kimmel, Carr also rejected claims that the FCC’s enforcement of equal-time rules constitutes censorship.

He said, “The Equal Time statute does not prohibit anyone from interviewing anyone on broadcast TV. It is about more speech, not less.”