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Brendan Carr, the Trump-picked chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), denied speculation that the agency is forcing ABC to apply early to renew licenses for its eight owned and operated local television stations as punishment for an ill-timed joke made last Thursday by late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel.

The decision drew backlash from industry group National Association of Broadcasters, whose chief executive called it “nearly unprecedented”; from Republican Senator Ted Cruz, who said the agency should not operate as “the speech police”; and from press freedom organizations that have derided it as an example of a disfavored network being punished for editorial purposes.

Carr – the US’s top media watchdog – instead said the license renewal order stemmed from an investigation that the FCC opened into Disney and ABC’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives back in March 2025. Still, it came just a day after the first lady and the president called for ABC to fire Kimmel, who was suspended by the network last fall under pressure from Carr, for joking that Melania Trump has the “glow like an expectant widow”.

“This was a decision that we made inside this building based on where we were in the enforcement matter,” Carr said. “There was no pressure from the outside. There was no suggestion from the outside. There was no call for agency action from the outside.”

Carr said that the order came after the FCC received a large production of hundreds of documents last week from Disney, which he said was viewed as “not forthcoming with the agency in terms of its document production”.

“We’ve been very clear that we’re holding broadcasters accountable to their obligations, not just public interest standards, but [Equal Employment Opportunity] obligations,” he said. “You can’t discriminate based on race and gender and there’s evidence that had been submitted that that’s what Disney was doing. And so that’s the timeline of the agency’s actions.

“I understand that anything that we do is now framed as ‘in the wake of’ in the headlines, and I understand that’s how it is, but we’ve got to make these decisions based on where we are in the investigation and what is best for next steps in that enforcement proceeding and the headlines will be what the headlines are.”

Anna M Gomez, the lone Democrat-appointed FCC commissioner, seemed very skeptical of Carr’s argument. “This is clearly a pretext,” she said in a post-meeting press conference. “I mean, give me a break. This is just another part of the pattern of harassment and retaliation in order to bend Disney to this administration’s will.”

Comcast and NBCUniversal are also subject to an FCC investigation into the company’s DEI practices that began in February 2025. When asked whether NBC’s licenses might be in jeopardy, Carr said he didn’t have an update but said, generally speaking, “it depends on where the investigations go. We we are going to be driven by the facts of each individual investigation.”

Carr acknowledged the backlash that he has received for some of his recent decisions as chairman. “I mean, the New York Times has already written my obituary,” he said. “It doesn’t look good. I can’t really do anything to improve that or hurt it at this point, so I am not really that bothered by it.”

Gomez, a harsh critic of Carr’s tenure, said she was glad that Disney put out a statement defending its compliance with the agency’s rules.

“There is no case here, and in the end this is why I’m heartened that Disney’s going to fight this, because they will win,” she said.

Gomez said the renewal process could end up taking “years”, during which ABC could continue to operate its stations as normal. (ABC also has affiliate agreements with many other local television stations that are contracted to air its content.)

But, she said that Tuesday’s order sets a dangerous precedent and could chill other broadcasters. “What’s clear to me is that this action is meant to warn others that they could be subject to similar action,” she said. “It’s unlawful, unprecedented, and doomed to fail, which is why people need to push back.”