Television host Jimmy Kimmel, pictured at the 98th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood in March, is getting a close eye from the Federal Communications Commission. (Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images)
By Jack Davis April 28, 2026 at 10:59am
A new report claims that the Federal Communications Commission will be putting some pressure on Disney’s TV stations as a response to Jimmy Kimmel’s slam against Melania Trump.
According to NBC News, the FCC is expected to order Disney’s eight owned-and-operated television stations to seek broadcast license renewals now, instead of 2028 when they were scheduled to be due. Disney is the parent company of ABC, which broadcasts Kimmel’s show.
NBC said the source it spoke to called the FCC action “unprecedented,” and linked it to Kimmel’s jab at the first lady.
As noted by the news website Semafor, President Donald Trump and Melania Trump have called upon ABC to fire Kimmel, who two days before an assassination attempt against the president referred to the first lady as “an expectant widow.”
Samafor’s report indicated Carr was moving toward an early renewal.
The Commission may choose not to trigger that process, known as an early license review, some of the people said. But FCC chairman Brendan Carr has threatened Disney’s licenses before as recently as this month, when he criticized the company’s diversity programs.
Read more from…
— Semafor (@semafor) April 28, 2026
Kimmel has refused to apologize for the comment (though he did say he was sorry Saturday’s shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner took place).
In a post on the social media platform X, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung wrote, “Jimmy Kimmel is a s**t human being for: #1. Making a disgusting joke about assassinating the President #2. Doubling down on that joke instead of doing the decent thing by apologizing ABC needs to fire him immediately and he should be shunned for the rest of his life.”
Disney owns stations in the major markets of Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia, Houston, Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, and Fresno, California, according to NBC.
The network’s source indicated that the stations will have 30 days to comply with the order.
Melania Trump’s Senior Advisor Calls for Jimmy Kimmel to be ‘Terminated From ABC’
“This isn’t an isolated incident … There are crazy people out there who are listening to this violent rhetoric.” pic.twitter.com/Tsmn8Ez6aq
— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) April 28, 2026
The FCC will be probing whether the TV stations are complying with the its public interest standards, according to NBC’s source.
FCC commissioner Anna M. Gomez, the lone Democratic appointee on the three-member FCC, attacked the renewal.
“This is unprecedented, unlawful, and going nowhere. It is a political stunt and it won’t stick. Companies should challenge it head-on. The First Amendment is on their side,” she said, according to NBC.
Kimmel attracted controversy in September after snarking about the accused assassin of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
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.
People like Kimmel shouldn’t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to…
— First Lady Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) April 27, 2026
“The MAGA gang [is] desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said.
At that time, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said Kimmel was guilty of Kimmel of “the sickest conduct imaginable” and suggested the FCC might revoke ABC affiliates’ licenses as a response.
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Jack Davis is a freelance writer who joined The Western Journal in July 2015 and chronicled the campaign that saw President Donald Trump elected. Since then, he has written extensively for The Western Journal on the Trump administration as well as foreign policy and military issues.
Jack Davis is a freelance writer who joined The Western Journal in July 2015 and chronicled the campaign that saw President Donald Trump elected. Since then, he has written extensively for The Western Journal on the Trump administration as well as foreign policy and military issues.
Jack can be reached at jackwritings1@gmail.com.
Location
New York City
Languages Spoken
English
Topics of Expertise
Politics, Foreign Policy, Military & Defense Issues
