FCC Chairman Brendan Carr Says Disney TV License Review Has Nothing To Do With Kimmel Comments

Earlier this week, the FCC sent a letter to Disney requesting an early review of some of its broadcast station licenses, stemming from a 2025 diversity, equity, and inclusion investigation. 

While the investigation began last year, this letter came shortly after Jimmy Kimmel, who has a late-night talk show on the platform, made comments about President Donald Trump, saying that First Lady Melania Trump was an "expectant widow" in the aftermath of an assassination attempt against the President at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. In the aftermath, President Trump demanded Kimmel be fired. These comments from Kimmel also come after he was suspended in September 2025 following comments made in the wake of conservative activist Charlie Kirk's assassination at a Utah college campus. 

Brendan Carr Denies Link to Kimmel Comments

However, on Thursday, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said the letter had nothing to do with Kimmel's comments, according to The Wall Street Journal. 

“This was based on DEI conduct and not speech,” Carr said at a press conference following the FCC’s monthly meeting.

Because of the timing, many believed there was a connection. In fact, FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, the lone Democratic commissioner at the FCC, had this to say: 

"This is unprecedented, unlawful, and going nowhere.

"This political stunt won't stick.

Companies should challenge it head-on. The First Amendment is on their side," she said.

Details of the Investigation

As mentioned, though, the probe into Disney began in March 2025 and concerned whether the company was still engaging in DEI practices. The FCC, at the time, said it wanted to “ensure that Disney and ABC have not been violating FCC equal employment opportunity regulations by promoting invidious forms of DEI discrimination.”

Additionally, Carr suggested that Disney wasn't being "completely forthcoming in its responses to the FCC’s requests for information," per the Journal. 

“It felt like they were playing rope-a-dope,” Carr said of Disney’s response to the agency’s document demands.

A Disney spokesperson didn't comment to the Journal when asked about Carr's comments. 

Regarding this probe, Disney previously said it was confident that the “record demonstrates our continued qualifications as licensees under the Communications Act and the First Amendment and are prepared to show that through the appropriate legal channels.”

FCC Deadline and Next Steps

The new FCC order gives Disney a deadline of May 28 to comply. The company owns eight stations, including three in California and others in Texas, Illinois, New York, and more.