As Disney’s ABC takes legal action against the FCC, the regulator is blasting the entertainment giant for an “ongoing campaign of disinformation” tied to its review of the company’s eight owned-and-operated television stations’ broadcast licenses.
“All broadcasters have a legal obligation to operate in the public interest—even Disney. The FCC has been examining claims that Disney engaged in illegal DEI discrimination for over a year,” an FCC spokesperson told TheWrap. “Disney is obviously very concerned about the FCC’s proceeding, as evidenced by their ongoing campaign of disinformation as well as their decision to ask a court to stop the FCC from further pursuing matters. The FCC will continue to follow the facts and law wherever they lead.”
On Tuesday, ABC filed a First Amendment lawsuit, alleging that the Trump administration has “waged a retaliatory campaign” against the network over its broadcasts. It seeks to block the FCC from “taking or threatening to take any action” against Disney, ABC and its eight owned-and-operated television stations in connection with early license renewal applications.
ABC argued that it has “no alternative means to eliminate these ongoing and immediate threats other than total capitulation to the administration’s demands” and that “over time, those attacks have escalated into express demands that ABC be stripped of its broadcast licenses because of its speech.”
The lawsuit came after Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro warned that ABC would stand up for journalistic integrity and that the company was “not going to be told how to run that side of our business.”
“I like what we do. We tell incredible stories,” D’Amaro added in a CNBC interview on Friday. “I think we do it well. We do it around the world. And we’re going to stay committed to that.”
While FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has maintained that the license renewal review is tied to Disney’s DEI practices, he also suggested that ABC’s decision to limit coverage of President Trump’s primetime address last month could be factored into the review.
In addition to the license renewal, the FCC is reviewing a petition from ABC seeking a “bona fide” news exemption for “The View.” Both reviews come after Carr previously targeted ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” which resulted in the late night host’s temporary suspension.
The final replies in the FCC’s license renewal proceeding closed on Aug. 5, with Disney and ABC receiving thousands of public comments of support. Carr told reporters last month that the agency would “look at the record and decide based on the evidence before us what the next step will be,” but did not set a specific timeline for a decision.
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