The Federal Communications Commission today opened an unusual review of ABC’s broadcast licenses, one day after President Trump and the first lady called on ABC to fire Jimmy Kimmel over a recent joke in which he said Melania Trump looked like an “expectant widow.”

There are no TV station licenses for any company up for renewal until 2028, and the legal process for revoking licenses is so difficult that it’s been described as nearly impossible. But the FCC today issued an order instructing ABC owner Disney to file early license renewal applications for all of its licensed TV stations by May 28.

“FCC rules provide 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 agency said. “Doing so both allows the FCC to conduct its ongoing investigation and enables the FCC to ensure that the broadcaster has been meeting its public interest obligations more broadly.”

The demand apparently stems from FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s opposition to Disney’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices, which he claims are a form of discrimination. Carr previously opened an investigation into the matter, and today’s order said the FCC “has been investigating Disney’s ABC stations for possible violations of the Communications Act of 1934 and the FCC’s rules, including the agency’s prohibition on unlawful discrimination.”

“While Disney’s ABC has purported to respond to two FCC Letters of Inquiry (LOIs) as part of this investigation, the FCC has determined that additional actions are appropriate at this time,” the agency order said.

Kimmel’s pretend roast

The license probe reportedly was sped up after the Kimmel joke. An NBC News article said that, while the proceeding ostensibly is about DEI, a source indicated that it was “fast-tracked after ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel made a joke about first lady Melania Trump.”

The uproar is over a Kimmel joke during a skit in which he pretended to deliver a roast at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. “Our first lady, Melania, is here… So beautiful, Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow,” Kimmel said. Kimmel also suggested in his pretend roast that Trump and his wife were introduced to each other by Jeffrey Epstein.

ABC owns eight TV stations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Houston, San Francisco, Raleigh-Durham, and Fresno. The stations’ licenses were originally scheduled for renewals between 2028 and 2031, a Disney spokesperson told Ars today.

“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,” Disney said in a statement provided to Ars. “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.”

“Retribution for a joke Donald Trump didn’t like”

Anna Gomez, the only Democratic FCC commissioner, said in a statement today that the Disney review “is the most egregious action this FCC has taken in violation of the First Amendment to date. As part of its ongoing campaign of censorship and control, the White House called publicly for the silencing of a vocal critic, and this FCC has now answered that call. This is an unprecedented and politically motivated attempt to interfere with how broadcasters operate, and this unlawful overreach will fail. This should be a lesson to media companies that no amount of capitulation to this administration will buy them protection. The only choice is to stand up and stand firm in defense of the First Amendment.”

Media advocacy group Free Press said that demanding an early license renewal “is an extremely rare escalation.” Free Press co-CEO Jessica J. González said, “Carr will try to dress up this latest attack like a legitimate FCC procedure, but his motivations are clear. He is using his position of power to silence dissent at the president’s beck and call… The timing of this move suggests unconstitutional retribution for a joke Donald Trump didn’t like.”

An ABC probe could examine DEI, Kimmel’s comedy, and other shows. Carr threatened ABC station licenses in September 2025, alleging at the time that airing Kimmel’s show might violate the rarely enforced news distortion policy. He later opened an equal-time rule investigation into ABC’s The View, even though the interview portions of talk shows have historically been exempt from the rule.

Carr’s investigations into media generally haven’t gone very far, but the probes cause trouble for news organizations even if they don’t result in penalties. Carr has also used merger reviews to impose requirements related to DEI and news coverage, since large companies are willing to make concessions in exchange for transaction approvals.

Trump’s fight against comedy

Trump skipped the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in previous years but attended this year’s event on April 25. The dinner was cut short by gunshots in an apparent assassination attempt.

Kimmel’s monologue and skit aired last week, before the dinner occurred. Kimmel said the event typically includes remarks from a comedian, but that this year’s event had no comedian because “our president is a delicate snowflake.” Kimmel introduced the skit by saying he had decided to “do some of the jokes a comedian might do if our president wasn’t a trembling drama queen who’s scared of comedy.”

In a Truth Social post yesterday, Trump linked the “expectant widow” joke to the shooting. “A day later a lunatic tried entering the ballroom of the White House Correspondents Dinner, loaded up with a shotgun, handgun, and many knives. He was there for a very obvious and sinister reason,” Trump wrote. “I appreciate that so many people are incensed by Kimmel’s despicable call to violence, and normally would not be responsive to anything that he said but, this is something far beyond the pale. Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC.”

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