The Federal Communications Commission has directed Walt Disney Co. to file early license renewal applications for its ABC television stations, citing an ongoing investigation, a day after President Trump called on the company to fire comedian Jimmy Kimmel.

The FCC said in its order that it is investigating ABC stations for “possible violations” of the Communications Act of 1934 and the agency’s prohibition on unlawful discrimination. An FCC official told CBS News that the order is related to the agency’s investigation into Disney’s diversity, equity and inclusion practices, which the official said has been ongoing since March 2025.

In a statement to CBS News, Disney said it has received the FCC’s order for an accelerated review of its ABC-owned television stations. 

“ABC and its stations have a long record of operating in full compliance with FCC rules and serving their local communities with trusted news, emergency information, and public‑interest programming,” a Disney spokesperson said. “We are confident that the 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 ABC licenses were originally scheduled for renewal between 2028 and 2031. The company owns eight TV stations, including WABC-TV in New York and KABC-TV in Los Angeles.

Trump calls for Kimmel firing

The FCC order comes after President Trump and Melania Trump urged ABC to fire Kimmel after he made a joke during his April 23 show in which he described the first lady as having “the glow of an expectant widow.” In the program, Kimmel pretended to deliver a comedy routine at the upcoming White House Correspondents’ Dinner. His program aired two days before the event.

In the aftermath of the dinner, in which an alleged gunman shot a Secret Service agent outside the Washington, D.C., ballroom where the Trumps were present, the first lady said that ABC should “take a stand” against Kimmel.

“Wow, Jimmy Kimmel, who is in no way funny as attested to by his terrible Television Ratings, made a statement on his Show that is really shocking,” Mr. Trump wrote in an April 27 post on social media. “I appreciate that so many people are incensed by Kimmel’s despicable call to violence, and normally would not be responsive to anything that he said but, this is something far beyond the pale.”

He added, “Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC.”

Kimmel defended his joke during his Monday night monologue, describing the routine as centering on the Trumps’ 23-year age difference. The routine was “a very light roast joke about the fact that he’s almost 80 and she’s younger than I am. It was not by any stretch of the definition a call to assassination. And they know that,” Kimmel said.

Mr. Trump, who turns 80 in June, is the oldest U.S. president to take office. His wife, a former model who was born in Slovenia, is 56.

Kimmel also defended his First Amendment rights, saying, “Donald Trump is allowed to say whatever he wants to say, as are you and as am I, as are all of us, because under the First Amendment, we have as Americans the right to free speech.”

Festering feud

The issue marks the second clash between the FCC and Disney within the last year, with ABC preempting “Jimmy Kimmel Live” in September after criticism of comments Kimmel made on his late-night TV show following the shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. 

At the time, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr referred to Kimmel’s comments as “some of the sickest conduct possible,” and said there was a “path forward for suspension over this.”

The FCC doesn’t have the authority to cancel broadcasters’ licenses “because of their perceived political views,” Jameel Jaffer, executive director at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, said in an email to CBS News.

The National Association of Broadcasters also spoke out against the FCC’s latest demand. 

“The FCC’s broadcast license renewal process must be grounded in predictability, fairness and transparency, principles reflected in the license terms Congress established and later extended,” NAB president and CEO Curtis LeGeyt said in a statement. “The Media Bureau’s nearly unprecedented request for one company to quickly reapply for all of its licenses — rather than utilize its traditional enforcement process — runs contrary to these principles and creates significant uncertainty for all broadcasters.”