Amid the latest flap between the Trump administration and late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, the Federal Communications Commission Tuesday ordered The Walt Disney Co. — parent of ABC — to submit early renewal applications for the TV stations it owns.
The two-page order makes no mention of Kimmel, but it was issued one day after President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump issued statements calling on ABC to fire the talk-show host over a joke he made on his show last week. The remark came just days before an armed Torrance man tried to force his way into the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington, D.C., in an alleged attempt to assassinate the president.
During last Thursday’s broadcast, Kimmel delivered a mock monologue as if he were hosting the annual Correspondents’ Dinner. During the bit, he joked that the first lady had “a glow like an expectant widow.”
“Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC,” Trump said in a Truth Social post Monday, calling the joke a “despicable call to violence.”
Melania Trump also criticized Kimmel in a statement posted on X, saying the comments about her family crossed the line.
“His monologue about my family isn’t comedy — his words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America,” she said.
There has been no response from ABC or Disney. But Kimmel personally rejected the criticism from the Trumps during his monologue on Monday night’s show. He said the joke was directed at the age difference between the couple.
“It was a very light roast joke about the fact that he’s almost 80 and she’s younger than I am,” Kimmel said. “It was not by any stretch of the definition a call to assassination. And they know that. I’ve been very vocal for many years speaking out against gun violence in particular.”
The FCC issued its order to Disney on Tuesday, directing it to submit its TV station renewal applications early — by the end of May — even though the licenses are not up for renewal until 2028.
The order notes that the FCC has been investigating Disney and ABC for possible rule violations, “including the agency’s prohibition on unlawful discrimination,” or more specifically, company practices related to diversity, equity and inclusion.
“FCC rules provide that whenever the FCC regards an application for a renewal of a license as essential to the proper conduct of an investigation, the FCC has the authority to call the broadcaster’s licenses in for early renewal,” the order states. “Doing so both allows the FCC to conduct its ongoing investigation and enables the FCC to ensure that the broadcaster has been meeting its public interest obligations more broadly.”
Anna Gomez, the only Democrat on the commission, issued a statement blasting the demand for early renewal applications.
“This is unprecedented, unlawful and going nowhere,” she wrote on X. “This political stunt won’t stick. Companies should challenge it head-on. The First Amendment is on their side.”
Kimmel has come under fire from the White House before. He was briefly suspended last September following comments he made on the air about the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk that drew criticism from the Trump administration.
Cole Tomas Allen, 31, the Torrance man accused of trying to breach the Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday, was charged Monday with attempting to assassinate the president of the United States. He is also facing a pair of weapons charges.
Allen’s attempted run through the Secret Service gauntlet at the Washington Hilton on Saturday prompted the evacuation of the president, first lady and other attendees from the hotel. Allen was subdued by the Secret Service and never made it to the ballroom where the event was being held.
Leave Jimmy alone and concentrate on ending the ongoing war with Iran, so no more members of our military dies needlessly.