FCC plan to challenge Disney broadcast licenses amounts to ‘illegal jawboning’

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: New York, April 28, 2026 — The Federal Communications Commission reportedly plans to challenge Disney’s eight licenses for its ABC stations as soon as this afternoon. The news comes after President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump feigned outrage about a joke from late night host Jimmy Kimmel. The FCC is chaired by Brendan Carr, a Trump super-loyalist — known to wear the president’s gilded face as a lapel pin — who has made clear that he views the agency’s role as furthering Trump’s agenda . The following can be attributed to Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) Chief of Advocacy Seth Stern: “The First Amendment and the FCC’s mandate do not permit the agency to use broadcast licenses as weapons to punish broadcasters for constitutionally protected content…