Disney, ABC battle Trump's FCC in court over free speech protections

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A demonstrator waves a "Protect Free Speech" sign following a protest against the suspension of the "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" show, held near the theater where the show is produced in Hollywood, on September 22, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. Mario Tama/Getty Images North America hide caption

A federal court in Washington, D.C., is to play host to a legal battle Tuesday morning pitting the Walt Disney Co. against the nation's chief broadcast regulator over just how far First Amendment protections can go during the presidency of Donald Trump.

FCC's lone Democrat says Disney 'has found its courage' in lawsuit against agency

President Trump has repeatedly called for Disney's ABC TV to fire late night comedian Jimmy Kimmel, who has consistently mocked the president. Trump has also routinely denounced ABC's The View, accusing it of being liberal and unfair.

Trump had earlier sued the network, before returning to office, over incorrect statements anchor George Stephanopoulos made about the verdicts in writer E. Jean Carroll's two lawsuits against Trump. ABC paid $16 million in a December 2024 settlement, including legal fees, to resolve that a month before Trump went back to the White House. But new Disney CEO Josh D'Amaro has authorized a high-stakes fight against the administration in court.

Brendan Carr, whom Trump elevated to be the chair of the Federal Communications Commission, has echoed the president's complaints. And under Carr, the FCC is moving to review Disney's ownership of all eight of the stations it owns, as part of the ABC Network, years ahead of schedule. That followed months of social media posts from Trump urging that the FCC strip ABC of its station licenses.

"There's not even a question as to what Carr is doing. What Carr is doing is unconstitutional," says Mark Fowler, a Republican former FCC chair under President Ronald Reagan. Fowler has filed a statement to aid ABC's lawsuit in which he likened Carr's actions to censorship. "The First Amendment is very plain in its wording and its meaning," he says.

FCC orders early license renewal for ABC stations following Kimmel's first lady joke

Technically, networks do not require licenses from the federal government to operate. Stations do need them to utilize publicly owned airwaves. They are perennially reviewed on a staggered basis and are typically renewed without much fanfare.

Carr has cited the requirement of stations to serve the "public interest," initiated investigations of Disney's diversity, equity and inclusion policies, and, though he says the license review is not linked to ABC's content, he has blasted the network as biased.

Disney and ABC are seeking to get U.S. District Judge Loren L. AliKhan to issue an order preventing the FCC from accelerating the typical review process. She had compelled the FCC to hold off from moving ahead until this hearing. Media advocates, FCC veterans and legal observers say the move to challenge all ABC's local licenses at once is unprecedented. And were it to be successful, it would hurt ABC badly in the bottom line. Six of those eight stations are in major media markets and contribute significantly to the network's bottom line.