US regulator to review Disney broadcast licenses after Jimmy Kimmel joke about Melania Trump

US regulator to review Disney broadcast licenses after Jimmy Kimmel joke about Melania Trump12 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleMadeline HalpertGetty ImagesThe US Federal Communications Commission is ordering an early review of Disney's television broadcast licences days after President Donald Trump called for the firing of late-night host Jimmy Kimmel.Trump had urged ABC - whose parent company is Disney - to pull Kimmel's show after the comedian joked that Melania Trump had the glow of an "expectant widow". Kimmel made the remarks days before a gunman fired shots at a gala attended by the Trumps. In an order on Tuesday, the FCC said it had been investigating Disney's ABC stations for possible violations, including unlawful discrimination.The BBC has contacted Disney, which owns eight television stations, and ABC for comment. The FCC order directs the company to file license renewal applications for all of their licensed TV stations within 30 days. The agency as part of its renewal review can require Disney to prove that it meets the agency's public-interest standards. The Disney-owned ABC television station licenses were not scheduled for renewal until 2028.The reviews could lead to the revocation of the stations' licences to broadcast, an action the commission has not taken in more than 40 years, Reuters reported. In a statement, Democratic FCC commissioner Anna M Gomez called the FCC's order "a political stunt"."This is unprecedented, unlawful, and going nowhere," she wrote on X. "Companies should challenge it head-on. The First Amendment is on their side."The move comes as the White House has continued to pressure ABC to fire Kimmel. White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said on Tuesday that Kimmel should be "shunned for the rest of his life". At the start of his show on Monday night, Kimmel had defended his comments about the first lady. "It was a very...