Disney sues FCC over 8 ABC licenses, alleging retaliatory campaign

Disney sued the FCC Tuesday in D.C. federal court, seeking to halt an early review of eight ABC broadcast licenses it calls a retaliatory campaign over network programming. The lawsuit, filed by Disney, ABC, and eight ABC affiliates, asks for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against the agency's review.

"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 lawsuit states. "Again and again, the Administration has attacked ABC's speech — the stories its journalists report and the viewpoints its network programs air."

The FCC called in the licenses for early renewal in April, a process the agency had not initiated ahead of schedule in more than half a century. ABC has responded to more than 600 separate requests and produced more than 13,000 pages of documents across the license review and a separate diversity investigation. The network filed its renewal applications "under protest."

The case could set a precedent for how far regulators can go in using broadcast licensing to influence editorial content, with implications for every network and station group in the country. If the court grants the injunction, it would freeze the FCC's review process while the constitutional questions are litigated.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr defended the agency's actions Friday, saying broadcasters have a duty to "operate in the public interest" and the FCC is merely trying to restore that standard. Carr has said the country should have a "trusted, respected news media, and we're not there."

Eight Licenses, One Regulatory Escalation

The dispute traces back to March 2025, when Carr launched a probe into whether Disney was still engaging in diversity, equity, and inclusion policies that the Trump administration has targeted through executive orders. Tensions escalated in April when Carr initiated the early license renewal process, accusing the network of failing to cooperate with the DEI investigation.

The timing of the review coincided with a heated feud between ABC's late-night host Jimmy Kimmel and President Trump. In September 2025, Carr called on ABC's affiliates to "step up" and reject the network's programming after Kimmel made comments about the assassination of conservative podcaster Charlie Kirk. Carr warned that "we can do this the easy way or the hard way," and numerous affiliates preempted Kimmel's show. ABC suspended production until the following week.

The FCC also launched a separate proceeding about ABC's daytime talk show "The View," arguing it is not a "bona fide" news program and therefore not exempt from FCC equal opportunity rules. The agency's position reverses decades of precedent. No candidate for public office has appeared on "The View" since Texas Senate candidate James Talarico's February appearance, the lawsuit notes, and the show has declined to air certain video clips out of fear of triggering license consequences.

The lawsuit catalogues dozens of instances of President Trump threatening broadcast networks on Truth Social. In December 2025, Trump suggested that networks that are "almost 100% Negative" in their coverage of him should have their "very valuable Broadcast Licenses" revoked. Last month, Trump threatened to revoke ABC's and NBC's licenses for not airing his July 16 primetime address live. ABC ultimately livestreamed the speech on ABC News LIVE, which it ordinarily would not have done, the suit notes.

The Precedent at Stake

The case draws on the Supreme Court's 2024 ruling in NRA v. Vullo, in which the Court unanimously rejected New York's efforts to pressure banks and insurers to cut ties with the National Rifle Association. Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote that the government cannot "use the power of the State to punish or suppress disfavored expression."

The lawsuit has drawn support from across the political spectrum. Conservative Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and Republican Sen. Ted Cruz have warned about the dangers of a politicized FCC. FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, the lone Democrat on the commission, said she is "hopeful that this will mark the beginning of the end of this administration's disregard for the Constitution and the law."

Two conservative media watchdogs — the Media Research Center and Center for American Rights — have filed comments urging the FCC not to renew ABC's licenses, accusing the network of partisan electioneering.

Carr has a history of acting on watchdog petitions. In 2024, he reopened a complaint against CBS News over an allegedly deceptive edit in a "60 Minutes" interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris. Paramount, which owns CBS, ultimately agreed to pay Trump $16 million to settle a related lawsuit.

"Disney is entirely justified in asking a court to stop the FCC's attempt to coerce its broadcast stations' programming through an unlawful campaign of regulatory scrutiny," said Katie Fallow, deputy litigation director at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. "The First Amendment prohibits the government from using regulatory threats to chill speech that the government doesn't like."

David Inserra, a fellow for free speech and technology at the Cato Institute, said the lawsuit "directly challenges the broad and abusive powers that Congress and prior court decisions gave the FCC."

The comment period on the license renewal applications has closed, and the FCC could "at any moment" issue an order that would kick off a formal hearing on the eight licenses, the lawsuit warns. ABC argues that any such adjudication "would be a charade," given the agency's demonstrated hostility toward the network.

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