FCC Orders Early Review of ABC Licenses After White House Pressure Over Kimmel Joke

Overview

• FCC officials, in an order issued Tuesday, told ABC to submit renewal applications for eight owned TV stations within 30 days.
• The commission said it is probing ABC’s inclusion and diversity policies under the 1934 Communications Act after Saturday’s attempted breach at the correspondents’ dinner and Monday’s White House demand that ABC fire Kimmel over his Melania joke.
• Disney, which owns ABC, said the network follows federal rules and expressed confidence its stations will secure renewals.
• Jimmy Kimmel apologized on Monday’s show and said the line about Melania was a light joke about the couple’s age gap, not an incitement to violence.
• Press freedom groups warn that using license reviews to punish content could chill constitutionally protected speech, and the clash follows Kimmel’s brief 2025 suspension over remarks about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.