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FCC calls in Disney-owned ABC stations for early license review in wake of Jimmy Kimmel controversy
By Brian Flood
Published April 28, 2026
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Tuesday called Disney’s ABC licenses for early renewal, marking a significant escalation in tensions between the media giant and the Trump administration.
Eight Disney-owned ABC affiliates will have to prove to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr that they have been operating in the public interest. The licenses are not up for renewal for several years, but the FCC accelerated their renewal process on the heels of Jimmy Kimmel’s controversial "expectant widow" joke last week that prompted President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump to call for his firing.
KFSN-TV in Fresno, KABC-TV in Los Angeles, KGO-TV in San Francisco, WLS-TV in Chicago, WABC-TV in New York, WTVD in North Carolina, WPVI-TV in Philadelphia and KTRK-TV in Houston are the Disney-owned stations named by the FCC.
FCC TO CALL IN DISNEY STATIONS FOR EARLY LICENSE REVIEW IN WAKE OF ABC'S JIMMY KIMMEL CONTROVERSY
First lady Melania Trump on Monday called for ABC to take action against Jimmy Kimmel. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images; Randy Holmes/Disney via Getty Images)
"The FCC has been investigating The Walt Disney Company, its American Broadcasting Company, and its subsidiaries (collectively, ‘Disney’s ABC’) for compliance with its obligations as a licensed broadcaster. Specifically, 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," FCC video chief David Brown wrote in a filing.
"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," he continued. "Specifically, 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. 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 FCC added: "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. Therefore, Disney’s ABC is hereby directed to file license renewals for all of their licensed TV stations within 30 days – in other words, by May 28, 2026."
JIMMY KIMMEL REMAINS DEFIANT, INSISTS 'EXPECTANT WIDOW' JAB AGAINST TRUMPS WAS ABOUT AGE DIFFERENCE
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump have called for ABC to act. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Photo)
These licenses were originally scheduled to be renewed between 2028 and 2031, but Trump’s FCC expedited the process. Disney plans to comply with the FCC’s order.
"We have received the Federal Communications Commission’s order initiating an accelerated review of the licenses held by ABC’s owned television stations," a Disney spokesperson told Fox News Digital. "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. 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. Our focus remains, as always, on serving viewers in the local communities where our stations operate."
The FCC filing does not specifically mention Kimmel and is instead a broad look at everything the Disney-owned stations air over publicly owned airwaves, but it comes as a long-standing feud between the ABC late-night host and the White House has heated up in recent days.
Kimmel had quipped Melania Trump had the glow of an "expectant widow" on his show last week. The joke went viral just days later when an assailant, who authorities say wanted to attack Trump administration members, opened fire at a security checkpoint at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner.
The shooting led to the evacuation of the Trumps and Cabinet members in attendance. The dinner was canceled but is expected to be rescheduled. As Kimmel's poorly aged joke went viral, President Trump and the first lady each called for ABC to take action.
"Kimmel’s hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country. His monologue about my family isn’t comedy — his words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America," Melania Trump posted on X.
EX-OBAMA AIDE CALLS ON KIMMEL TO APOLOGIZE FOR ‘TASTELESS’ JOKE AHEAD OF ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT
But ABC remained silent and allowed Kimmel to return to air on Monday. He did not apologize for the "widow" remark on his show, instead doubling down by saying he clearly wasn't calling for the president's assassination, and it was instead a reference to the first couple's age difference.
"It was a very light roast joke about the fact that he's almost 80, and she's younger than I am. It was not, by any stretch of the definition, a call to assassination — and they know that," Kimmel said on Monday. "I've been very vocal for many years speaking out against gun violence in particular, but I understand that the first lady had a stressful experience over the weekend, and probably every weekend is pretty stressful in that house."
White House director of communications Steven Cheung said that Kimmel is a "s--- human" for doubling down.
"ABC needs to fire him immediately and he should be shunned for the rest of his life," Cheung wrote on X.
Cole Tomas Allen of Torrance, California, the 31-year-old accused of targeting top Trump administration officials, is facing three counts, including attempting to assassinate the President of the United States, transporting a firearm across state lines and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. Top DOJ officials said Monday that additional charges are expected, and he faces life imprisonment.
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