Disney Sues FCC Over Retaliatory Campaign Against ABC
The Walt Disney Company has filed a lawsuit against the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), alleging that the agency is engaged in a 'retaliatory campaign' against ABC, one of its owned-and-operated television stations.
The FCC, under Chairman Brendan Carr, has been scrutinizing ABC over its programming and diversity initiatives. In April, Trump pressured ABC to fire late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, and the FCC launched an investigation into ABC's 'The View,' alleging an equal-time violation.
The lawsuit claims that these actions are part of a broader effort by the administration to punish ABC for its programming. Disney argues that the FCC made the request for early license renewal filings years before any of their licenses would have come up for renewal and gave Disney just 30 days to file paperwork that can take months to prepare.
The company is asking the D.C. District Court to 'immediately' stop the FCC from taking action or threatening Disney and its ABC stations in relation to the early license renewal applications.