The Walt Disney Co. on Tuesday sued the Federal Communications Commission, arguing that the agency’s decision to review ABC’s broadcast television licenses earlier than usual amounts to an attack on free speech by the Trump administration.
The lawsuit is one of the most muscular legal challenges a media corporation has mounted against the second Trump administration.
In late April, the FCC ordered Disney’s eight owned-and-operated television stations to file their broadcast license renewals ahead of schedule. The directive came amid a probe into ABC’s “The View” program, as well as a long-running investigation into diversity, equity and inclusion practices at Disney.
Disney owns and operates TV stations in key media markets such as Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco. The licenses were not due to come up for renewal until 2028 at the earliest. All eight of Disney’s owned ABC stations are part of Tuesday’s lawsuit.
The move from the FCC also came after the White House and President Donald Trump himself assailed ABC late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel for a joke about first lady Melania Trump.
The lawsuit cites Trump’s social media posts, including one in which he complained that late-night TV hosts “are almost 100% Negative to President Donald J. Trump” and asked if broadcast licenses should “be terminated?”
“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,” the suit states. “That campaign began in this Administration’s earliest days and has only intensified since.”
In September 2025, Disney pulled Kimmel off the air briefly after pressure from FCC Chairman Brendan Carr. Kimmel had made a comment about the motivations of the man who authorities say fatally shot conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Kimmel also criticized Republicans for how they responded to Kirk’s killing.
In the lawsuit, Disney describes the FCC action as an “existential threat.”
“The Commission issued an unprecedented order requiring the Stations to file early applications to renew their licenses—years before any of their licenses would have come up for renewal in the ordinary course and allowing only thirty days to file applications which ordinarily take months to prepare,” attorneys Beth Wilkinson and Paul Clement wrote in the civil complaint.
The suit requests that the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia “immediately” stop the FCC “from taking or threatening to take any action” against Disney and ABC stations “in relation to the early license renewal applications.”
ABC also requested a “speedy hearing” from the court and asked for a “temporary restraining order.”
In a phone interview with NBC News on Tuesday, Carr said in part: “It would seem that Disney has become very concerned and worried, and they now are attempting to go to court to get the court to stop the FCC from moving forward, at least with respect to some of the proceedings that are underway.
“But we feel like ultimately that’s going to be a meritless case,” Carr added.
Carr said the agency has not “made a decision, ultimately, on a license proceeding, but we’ll follow the facts and the law wherever they take us.”
In a statement, a spokesperson for the FCC said: “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.”
Anna M. Gomez, the lone Democratic appointee on the FCC, cheered Disney and ABC’s legal challenge.
“I have long called on companies to push back against this kind of government intimidation, and I’m glad Disney has shown courage and stepped up,” Gomez said in a statement. “This should be a welcome sign for every broadcaster who has felt the weight of this overreaching government pressure in silence.”
In July, Carr argued that the FCC’s orders to Disney and ABC were meant to ensure the media enterprises were operating in “the public interest” rather than retaliation.
“If broadcasters don’t like that, that’s okay,” Carr told CNBC. “They can become a cable channel, they can become a podcast, they can stream online. But if you want to uniquely be on the public’s airwaves, you have to comply with those obligations.”
Disney and ABC have also argued to the FCC that “The View” is a legitimate news program and have pointed to an FCC staff ruling on the matter in 2002.
Carr also rejected that argument: “The 2002 [ruling] was a staff-level decision that was based on representations made in the record all the way back in 2002, and so there’s a question of, is the program still the same today as it was back then?”
On Friday, newly installed Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro said that the company was “principled” in its fight against the FCC’s moves.
“We’re going to stand up to what we believe is journalistic integrity,” D’Amaro told CNBC. “And we’re not going to be told how to run that side of our business,” he added, referring to the ABC broadcast network.
“I like what we do. We tell incredible stories. I think we do it well,” D’Amaro said. “And we’re going to stay committed to that.”
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