Disney & ABC sue FCC, seeking to stop early license renewal process

The Walt Disney Company, ABC and a number of its stations on Tuesday sued the Federal Communications Commission, seeking to stop an early license renewal process that they say is an attack by the Trump administration. In April, the FCC ordered Disney’s eight owned-and-operated television stations to file their broadcast license renewals ahead of schedule. That order came amid a probe into ABC’s “The View” program, as well as a long-running investigation into diversity, equity and inclusion practices at Disney. The move from the FCC also came after the White House and President Donald Trump himself assailed ABC late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel for a joke about the first lady Melania Trump. The lawsuit specifically cites Trump’s own social media posts, including one in which he complained that late-night TV hosts “are almost 100% Negative to President Donald J. Trump” and asked if broadcast licenses should “be terminated?” “Acting through the Federal Communications Commission, the Administration has waged a retaliatory campaign against ABC for a single reason: it disapproves of what ABC broadcasts,” the suit states. “That campaign began in this Administration’s earliest days and has only intensified since.” In September 2025, Disney pulled Kimmel off the air briefly after pressure from FCC chairman Brendan Carr. Kimmel had made a comment about the motivations of the man who authorities say fatally shot conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Kimmel also criticized Republicans for how they responded to Kirk’s killing. In the lawsuit, Disney describes the FCC action as an “existential threat.” “The Commission issued an unprecedented order requiring the Stations to file early applications to renew their licenses—years before any of their licenses would have come up for renewal in the ordinary course and allowing only thirty days to file applications which ordinarily take months to prepare,” attorneys Beth Wilkinson and Paul Clement write in the civil complaint. The suit requests that the D.C. District court “immediately” stop the FCC “from taking or threatening to take any action” against Disney and ABC stations “in relation to the early license renewal applications.” ABC also requested a “speedy hearing” from the court, “and ask this Court to enter a temporary restraining order.” The FCC did not immediately return a request for comment from NBC News. In July, Carr argued that the FCC’s orders to Disney and ABC were about operating in “the public interest” rather than retaliation. “If broadcasters don’t like that, that’s okay,” Carr told CNBC. “They can become a cable channel, they can become a podcast, they can stream online. But if you want to uniquely be on the public’s airwaves, you have to comply with those obligations.” Disney and ABC have also argued to the FCC that “The View” is a legitimate news program, and have pointed to an FCC staff ruling on the matter in 2002. Carr also rejected that argument. “The 2002 [ruling] was a staff-level decision that was based on representations made in the record all the way back in 2002, and so there’s a question of, is the program still the same today as it was back then?” On Friday, newly-installed Disney chief executive officer Josh D’Amaro said that the company was “principled” in its fight against the FCC’s moves. “We’re going to stand up to what we believe is journalistic integrity,” D’Amaro told CNBC. “And we’re not going to be told how to run that side of our business,” he added referring to the ABC broadcast network. “I like what we do. We tell incredible stories. I think we do it well,” said D’Amaro. “And we’re going to stay committed to that.”