The FCC is gearing up to launch a formal review of the broadcast licenses granted to Disney’s eight owned ABC stations over complaints about Jimmy Kimmel‘s joke about Melania Trump looking like an “expectant widow,” coming days before a gunman crashed into the White House Correspondents’ Dinner with the apparent intent to try to assassinate President Trump, according to a report.
The FCC, headed by Trump appointee Brendan Carr, “is moving toward a review of Disney’s broadcast licenses, according to people familiar with the matter, a maneuver that would up the pressure on the ABC owner as it faces fierce scrutiny from the administration — again — over a late night monologue,” per a report by Semafor.
Carr has on several occasions threatened to use the FCC’s regulatory authority to revoke licenses of TV broadcasters that air programming that he finds objectionable — including Kimmel’s on-air comments last September about Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
The FCC chairman earlier this month suggested ABC could lose its broadcast TV licenses over what he characterized as Disney’s illegal DEI programs. “If the evidence does in fact play out and shows that they were engaged in race- and gender-based discrimination, that’s a very serious issue at the FCC, that could fundamentally go to their character qualifications to even hold a license,” Carr said in an interview with Fox News.
Representatives for the FCC and ABC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Anna Gomez, the only Democratic commissioner on the FCC, commented on the Semafor report, “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.”
Kimmel’s joke on the Thursday, April 23, episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” featured a mock White House Correspondents’ Dinner. During the bit, the host quipped that Melania had the glow of an “expectant widow” — prompting both President Trump and the First Lady to post separate statements on social media Monday calling for Disney and ABC to fire Kimmel.
That came two days before the real WHCD on April 25 was thrown into chaos after an armed man charged through a security perimeter outside the ballroom before he was apprehended. The suspect, identified by authorities as California resident Cole Tomas Allen, has been charged with attempting to assassinate Trump.
On Monday’s episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” the late-night host defended his remark about Melania as “a very light roast joke about the fact that he’s almost 80 and she’s younger than I am. It was not by any stretch of the definition a call to assassination. And they know that.”
Kimmel continued, “I’ve been very vocal for many years speaking out against gun violence, in particular. But I understand that the First Lady had a stressful experience over the weekend. And probably every weekend is pretty stressful in that house. And also, I agree that hateful and violent rhetoric is something we should reject. I do. And I think a great place to start to dial that back would be to have a conversation with your husband about it.”
In September, Carr threatened to investigate TV stations for “news distortion” if they didn’t drop Kimmel (following Kimmel’s comments about MAGA trying to score political points in the aftermath of Kirk’s killing). Carr threatened ABC and its affiliates if they did not “take action” on Kimmel: “We can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.” Carr implied the FCC would pursue “news distortion” allegations against local ABC broadcasters unless they dropped Kimmel’s show.
The FCC chairman has previously claimed he’s not censoring anybody and that he isn’t against free speech — he’s just against “fake news,” and he’s just doing his job to hold spectrum licensees accountable to a “public interest” standard.
Meanwhile, Carr has dangled the same kind of threat in other instances, including last month when Carr implied the FCC would not renew licenses of broadcasters that perpetrated “hoaxes and news distortions” in their coverage of the Trump administration’s Iran war.
All that said, any charge the FCC lodged against a TV broadcast company about alleged “news distortion” would be tied up in bureaucratic proceedings for months or even years. That before it could reach a court of law — where it would likely be challenged.
On Monday, Trump blasted Kimmel over the Melania sketch and called for his firing.
“Jimmy Kimmel, who is in no way funny as attested to by his terrible Television Ratings, made a statement on his Show that is really shocking,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “He showed a fake video of the First Lady, Melania, and our son, Barron, like they were actually sitting in his studio, listening to him speak, which they weren’t, and never would be. He then stated, ‘Our First Lady, Melania, is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.’ A day later, a lunatic tried entering the ballroom of the White House Correspondents Dinner, loaded up with a shotgun, handgun, and many knives. He was there for a very obvious and sinister reason. I appreciate that so many people are incensed by Kimmel’s despicable call to violence… Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC.”
Melania Trump, hours before the president weighed in, had written in a post on X, “Kimmel’s hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country. His monologue about my family isn’t comedy — his words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America,” Melania Trump posted on X hours before her husband’s own post.”
She continued, “People like Kimmel shouldn’t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate. A coward, Kimmel hides behind ABC because he knows the network will keep running cover to protect him. Enough is enough. It is time for ABC to take a stand. How many times will ABC’s leadership enable Kimmel’s atrocious behavior at the expense of our community.”
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