Further escalating its battle with the Trump administration, ABC on Tuesday took the rare step of suing the Federal Communications Commission on First Amendment grounds, saying the agency\u2019s demand for early review of its broadcast licenses posed an \u201cexistential threat\u201d to the network.<\/p>\n
\n
In the lawsuit, ABC, its parent company Disney and the eight ABC-owned stations whose licenses are affected asked a federal court to stop\u00a0the early renewal proceedings.<\/p>\n
The FCC under\u00a0Chairman Brendan Carr, an ally of President Donald Trump, had ordered the early review in April \u2014 itself a rare move \u2014 of all eight licenses owned by ABC, years before they are set to expire. Licenses are issued for eight-year periods. The FCC cited the network\u2019s diversity and inclusion practices as a reason, but the development came shortly after\u00a0a joke by ABC\u2019s late-night host Jimmy Kimmel\u00a0\u2014 an outspoken Trump critic \u2014 had infuriated the president, who has called for Kimmel\u2019s firing.<\/p>\n
\u201cAgain and again, the Administration has attacked ABC\u2019s speech \u2014 the stories its journalists report and the viewpoints its network programs air,\u201d the network alleged in its lawsuit Tuesday. \u201cOver time, those attacks have escalated into express demands that ABC be stripped of its broadcast licenses because of its speech.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFacing this existential threat,\u201d it added, \u201cPlaintiffs have no choice but to seek redress from the judicial branch for the Administration\u2019s blatant retaliation for their First Amendment speech.\u201d<\/p>\n
It said ABC had \u201cno alternative means to eliminate these ongoing and immediate threats other than total capitulation to the Administration\u2019s demands.\u201d It asked the court to \u201cimmediately enjoin Defendants from taking or threatening to take any action against Plaintiffs in relation to the early license renewal applications.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are already clashes between ABC and the administration<\/h2>\n
The early license review is only one part of a long-simmering confrontation between ABC and the FCC.<\/p>\n
The network has also been fighting Carr\u2019s efforts to make\u00a0the morning talk show \u201cThe View,\u201d\u00a0whose hosts and guests are often critical of Trump, subject to equal-time rules. That\u2019s a question ABC says the agency itself decided \u2014 in the network\u2019s favor \u2014 more than two decades ago. ABC argues \u201cThe View\u201d is a bona fide news program, meaning it\u2019s exempt from equal time rules, which require granting equal airtime to competing candidates for office.<\/p>\n
The ABC lawsuit Tuesday also spoke of broad ramifications that go well beyond one network.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe consequences of the Administration\u2019s campaign against free speech reach well beyond ABC,\u201d it said. \u201cIf the Administration gets its way, the message to every media company in the country will be unmistakable: tell only the stories the Administration deems favorable, or face the coercive machinery of the federal government. In such a world, the press could in no way be described as free.\u201d<\/p>\n
It added: \u201cThe FCC Chairman has left little doubt that this is his goal.\u201d<\/p>\n
The lawsuit also quoted Carr as saying, when Kimmel made comments that angered the administration, \u201cWe can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways . . . to take action . . . on Kimmel, or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carr, a longtime FCC commissioner, was named chairman by Trump in November 2025. He has indeed made it clear that he is considering revoking ABC\u2019s licenses, or trying to, in what would surely be a drawn-out legal process.<\/p>\n
Longtime free-speech attorney Floyd Abrams noted that tensions between the press and the commission are not new \u2014 but have never been this pronounced.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere has long been a level of tension between the broadcast media, which seeks full First Amendment protection, and the FCC,\u201d Abrams wrote in an email to The Associated Press. \u201cBut not until the Trump Administration has the government so directly, so deliberately and so dangerously sought to limit the freedom of the broadcast press to cover and discuss the news.\u201d<\/p>\n
The lone Democrat on the FCC praises the lawsuit<\/h2>\n
The sole Democrat on the commission,\u00a0Anna Gomez, commended ABC and Disney for pushing back against the FCC\u2019s actions.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor months, the FCC has waged a campaign of censorship and control against Disney\u2019s ABC stations,\u201d she said in a statement, \u201cusing the threat of broadcast license revocations to punish a company for speech this administration doesn\u2019t like.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI have long called on companies to push back against this kind of government intimidation, and I\u2019m glad Disney has shown courage and stepped up,\u201d she said. \u201cThis should be a welcome sign for every broadcaster who has felt the weight of this overreaching government pressure in silence.\u201d<\/p>\n
In late July, Carr defended\u00a0his agency\u2019s actions against ABC,\u00a0saying broadcasters have a duty to \u201coperate in the public interest.\u201d The FCC, he said, was merely trying to restore that standard.\u00a0Besides investigating ABC, Carr has also opened separate investigations into CBS News and NBC News.<\/p>\n
Broadcasters like ABC, Carr said in an interview on the Fox Business Network, \u201cstruck a deal with the American people. You broadcasters get subsidized access, free access to a valuable public resource, the airwaves, worth billions of dollars. In exchange, you have to operate in the public interest.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLook, as a country, we should have a trusted, respected news media, and we\u2019re not there,\u201d Carr said. \u201cSo I hope more broadcasters return to their public interest obligations.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, an FCC spokesperson reiterated that position.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll broadcasters have a legal obligation to operate in the public interest \u2014 even Disney,\u201d said a statement from the commission, responding to the lawsuit.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe FCC has been examining claims that Disney engaged in illegal DEI discrimination for over a year. Disney is obviously very concerned about the FCC\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
Associated Press journalist Mike Catalini contributed to this report.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
#Jimmy #Kimmel #feud #Trump #escalates #ABC #suing #FCC #threats #broadcast #licenses<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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<\/p>\n