Disney dragged the FCC into federal court to halt an early review of ABC’s broadcast licenses, claiming political retaliation even as the agency cites public-interest duties and DEI probes.
Disney and ABC went before a federal judge as their lawsuit seeking to stop the Federal Communications Commission’s early review of ABC’s major-market broadcast licenses reached its first day in court.
Breitbart News reported the hearing after the company asked a judge to order the FCC to end the review, calling it a threat to operations and a free-speech fight. The FCC has talked about the review since April. Disney filed last month.
The company frames the case as punishment for editorial choices. The commission says broadcasters still owe the public interest, and that claims of illegal DEI discrimination at Disney have been under examination for more than a year.
In its complaint, Disney cast the fight as a test of whether regulators can lean on licenses to police coverage the administration dislikes.
"This case boils down to a simple question: Can the administration use its control over the federal regulatory apparatus to punish a media organization for editorial decisions and news coverage it dislikes?"
The filing adds that the First Amendment answers that question and that court action is needed “to stop the Federal Communications Commission’s extraordinary assault on free speech.” Disney also argues “the process is the punishment,” saying a slow-walked review piles on bad publicity.
The New York Post reported ABC sued in Washington, D.C., federal court seeking a temporary restraining order and injunction against review of eight broadcast licenses, including stations in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. The suit claims a retaliatory campaign meant to silence programming.
Another passage in the complaint states the point in blunt terms:
"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."
FCC chief Brendan Carr has pressed a different standard. Broadcasters hold public licenses. Those licenses come with duties, not blank checks for whatever ideology the parent company prefers.
Last month the commission told Breitbart News it would keep moving.
"All broadcasters have a legal obligation to operate in the public interest, even Disney. The FCC has been examining claims that Disney engaged in illegal DEI discrimination for over a year. Disney is obviously very concerned about the FCC’s proceeding, as evidenced by their ongoing campaign of disinformation as well as their decision to ask a court to stop the FCC from further pursuing matters. The FCC will continue to follow the facts and law wherever they lead,"
The Washington Examiner reported the order requires early license renewal filings for all eight of Disney and ABC’s broadcast TV stations, years ahead of the normal schedule, amid probes into Disney DEI initiatives and ABC’s The View.
Carr has also argued ABC violated public-charge expectations with shows such as Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The View, and he has accused Disney of slanted news coverage that spreads disinformation. Conservative groups including the Media Research Center and the Center for American Rights have filed against renewing ABC licenses.
Just The News reported that in April the FCC ordered Disney’s eight owned-and-operated TV stations to file renewals ahead of schedule. That order lined up with an investigation of The View over equal-time rules after the show hosted Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico, plus a probe of Disney DEI practices.
The same period followed President Trump’s criticism of a Jimmy Kimmel joke about Melania Trump and public questions about whether late-night hosts were meeting broadcast-license standards. Carr’s DEI investigation into Disney dated to March 2025, with the early ABC renewal push in April amid the Kimmel fights.
None of that required inventing a new theory of regulation. It required applying the old one: public airwaves, public obligations, and scrutiny when a licensee’s conduct draws formal claims.
Even while suing, Disney says it has already started answering the complaints. Booking for The View is more “circumspect.” Some of Kimmel’s interviews with Democratic candidates now land on YouTube instead of the nightly broadcast.
That is not the posture of a company convinced the FCC has nothing to examine. It is the posture of a company managing risk while asking a judge to shut the review down. Disney still calls the effort a political witch hunt and a retaliatory campaign by the Trump administration. The commission still says it will follow the facts and the law.
Licenses for major-market stations are not lifestyle accessories. They are scarce public grants. When a regulator looks at DEI discrimination claims, equal-time questions, and on-air conduct, the licensee can answer on the record, or try to end the exam in court.
Disney chose court. The FCC chose to keep the file open. A federal judge now has to decide whether public-interest oversight is punishment, or simply the job.
Public airwaves were never a shield for corporate ideology, and a license review is not censorship when the law still demands broadcasters serve the public first.
