Disney sues FCC
August 18, 2026



In an unprecedented First Amendment lawsuit against the FCC, ABC Network (owned by Disney) claims that its investigations and regulatory actions are part of a Trump administration “retaliatory campaign” to curb the network’s free speech.

Filed in Washington, D.C., the suit seeks to halt a proceeding in which the agency and its chairman, Brendan Carr, demanded that it put its eight stations up for early license renewal. This follows President Trump‘s attacks on the network, including its late night host, Jimmy Kimmel.


“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 stated.

The filing includes references to Trump’s attacks on the network and his calls for its to lose its licenses, including his complaints over the way that ABC News moderated the 2024 presidential debate. The lawsuit cites Carr’s warning to ABC last September, after Kimmel made a joke tied to the investigation into the assassination of Charlie Kirk. On a podcast, Carr said that “we can do this the easy way or the hard way,” adding that companies could take action “or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.” Two major station groups with network affiliates said that they would not air the show, and ABC pulled Kimmel from the air for several days before restoring him.

Bloomberg reported that the FCC may issue a license hearing designation order this month, a regulatory move that would kick off an agency adjudication process to determine the fate of the licenses.

ABC state, “Any FCC adjudication would be a charade. The Commission cannot lawfully grant renewal this early in the license terms—the only outcomes on the table are adverse to Plaintiffs. At one extreme, the Commission may intentionally prolong the adjudicative process, miring ABC in years of costly litigation, with the threat of adverse action ever present and with every editorial judgment shadowed by the prospect of provoking the Administration into further retaliation.”

The legal team added, “At another extreme, the Commission may use the hearing to deny license renewal or immediately revoke the Stations’ licenses, forcing Plaintiffs off the air entirely, as the President has repeatedly demanded. In either scenario, the Administration accomplishes its goal of eliminating a perceived media critic: either it gets Plaintiffs to fall in line, or it silences them if they refuse.”

The lawsuit names the FCC, Carr and its two commissioners, Olivia Trusty and Anna Gomez. The inclusion of Gomez, the sole Democrat, appears to be for litigation reasons, as the complaint also cites her criticisms of the Republican-controlled agency as waging a “sustained, coordinated campaign of censorship and control.”

The network is seeking a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to halt further action on the early license renewals, as well as an order that the FCC be prohibited from taking actions “to coerce or threaten” the network “with sanctions in an effort to alter their exercise of editorial discretion.”