Disney and ABC sued the Federal Communications Commission over what it described as the agency’s unconstitutional “retaliatory campaign” against the network in an Aug. 18 lawsuit. 

The federal complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, centered on the FCC’s April order for the Disney-owned ABC to file license renewals for its eight television stations by late May – years ahead of schedule. The order said the commission was investigating the stations “for possible violations of the Communications Act of 1934 and the FCC’s rules, including the agency’s prohibition on unlawful discrimination.” 

Disney said at the time it was “confident” its “record demonstrates our continued qualifications as licensees under the Communications Act and the First Amendment and are prepared to show that through the appropriate legal channels.”    

The lawsuit referenced the timing of the order, which was issued one day after President Donald Trump called for Disney and ABC to fire Jimmy Kimmel. The uproar related to Kimmel saying First Lady Melania Trump had a “glow like an expectant widow” ahead of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, which was disrupted by a shooting.   

But the lawsuit characterized the matter as a broader issue with implications for the entire news industry. 

“If the Administration gets its way, the message to every media company in the country will be unmistakable: tell only the stories the Administration deems favorable, or face the coercive machinery of the federal government,” it said. “In such a world, the press could in no way be described as free.”  

In a statement shared with USA TODAY on Aug. 18, an FCC spokesperson said the agency has been investigating Disney’s alleged “illegal DEI discrimination” for over a year.

“Disney is obviously very concerned about the FCC’s proceeding, as evidenced by their ongoing campaign of disinformation as well as their decision to ask a court to stop the FCC from further pursuing matters,” the spokesperson said. “The FCC will continue to follow the facts and the law wherever they lead.”

Commissioner hopes lawsuit is ‘beginning of the end’

The FCC has also taken action against ABC in a separate proceeding related to its equal time rules. The network accused the FCC of “chilling speech ahead of the fast-approaching 2026 general election” in an early July legal filing on the matter. 

Amid the FCC conflict, ABC launched an on-air campaign in late June asking viewers to submit comments to the agency in its defense. While FCC Chair Brendan Carr said the FCC was “open-minded” about the ABC proceedings during the commission’s June 25 open meeting, Commissioner Anna Gomez, appointed by then-President Joe Biden in 2023, said she “suspect(s) this FCC will cherry-pick the submissions of partisan organizations to support its goal of silencing critics.” 

A bipartisan coalition of former high-ranking FCC personnel, including former chairs and commissioners, urged the agency to drop the proceeding in late July, calling it an “assault on free speech disguised as regulatory process” in a court filing. 

Gomez, who previously urged Disney to “fight” the FCC’s actions, said she was “glad Disney has shown courage and stepped up” through suing the agency in an Aug. 18 statement shared with USA TODAY.  

“I am hopeful that this will mark the beginning of the end of this administration’s disregard for the Constitution and the law, and that the coming months will bring the costly legal defeat this agency has been asking for since it started down this path,” she said. 

First Amendment organizations also welcomed the lawsuit. 

Katie Fallow, deputy litigation director at the Knight First Amendment Institute, accused the FCC of engaging in an “unlawful campaign of regulatory scrutiny” and said Disney’s federal complaint “makes clear that this campaign has already chilled ABC’s speech.” Freedom of the Press Foundation Chief of Advocacy Seth Stern urged “others whose First Amendment rights have been chilled by Carr’s antics” to “follow Disney’s lead” in an Aug. 18 news release. 

The lawsuit asked the court to declare that the FCC’s order to file early license renewal applications violated the First Amendment, bar the agency from taking or continuing any further action related to the applications and from “taking any actions, formal or informal, to coerce or threaten Plaintiffs with sanctions in an effort to alter their exercise of editorial discretion.”  

BrieAnna Frank is a First Amendment reporter at USA TODAY. Reach her at bjfrank@usatoday.com. 

USA TODAY’s coverage of First Amendment issues is funded through a collaboration between the Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners. Funders do not provide editorial input.