Disney and ABC sued the Federal Communications Commission and its chairman, Brendan Carr, in federal court Tuesday, asking a judge to halt an April order that required eight ABC-owned broadcast stations to file license-renewal applications years ahead of schedule.

The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, is the first sustained legal challenge by a major broadcaster to the Trump administration's use of the FCC to police programming decisions. Disney is seeking a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction that would freeze the accelerated renewal process, which the company argues is designed to force it either to soften ABC's editorial coverage or lose its right to broadcast. The stations' current licenses run through 2028 to 2031.

The April order

Carr ordered the accelerated review in April, one day after President Trump and first lady Melania Trump called on ABC to fire late-night host Jimmy Kimmel over a monologue in which Kimmel said the first lady looked like an "expectant widow." The FCC has not required a broadcast network to submit early renewal applications in more than 50 years, the lawsuit says, and has never done so for a group of stations under common ownership.

The complaint quotes the president directly. In November 2025, after ABC News chief White House correspondent Mary Bruce pressed Trump on the release of files related to Jeffrey Epstein, he responded, "You’re a terrible person, and a terrible reporter… I think the license should be taken away from ABC because your news is so fake, and it’s so wrong," according to remarks reprinted in the filing. The lawsuit describes the effort as a retaliatory campaign. "Government censorship is deeply un-American," it says.

The regulator's answer

The FCC said Tuesday it was following the law. "All broadcasters have a legal obligation to operate in the public interest—even Disney," an agency spokesperson said. "The FCC has been examining claims that Disney engaged in illegal DEI discrimination for over a year." The agency accused Disney of running a "campaign of disinformation" about the proceeding and said it would press ahead.

Anna Gomez, the FCC's lone Democratic commissioner and one of the named defendants, sided with Disney in a separate statement. "For months, the FCC has waged a campaign of censorship and control against Disney’s ABC stations, using the threat of broadcast license revocations to punish a company for speech this administration doesn’t like," Gomez said. Disney cited some of her earlier public criticisms in its complaint.

A widening front

Carr has also opened an inquiry into whether ABC's daytime program The View still qualifies for the equal-time exemption reserved for bona fide news interview shows. In July, the agency demanded internal communications and political-donation records from booking staff at Houston station KTRK, then expanded similar demands to Good Morning America, This Week with George Stephanopoulos and ABC World News Tonight. ABC has not booked a political candidate on The View since February.

The Disney complaint arrives after ABC News agreed to pay $15 million to Trump's presidential foundation and museum and $1 million in legal fees to settle a defamation suit over anchor George Stephanopoulos's on-air statement that Trump had been found "liable for rape" in the E. Jean Carroll civil case rather than sexual abuse. Trump has since called for the revocation of NBC's broadcast licenses as well, after both networks declined to carry a July primetime address live.

Counterpoint

Tuesday's news coverage drew from center-leaning outlets, and the FCC's own statement is the fullest defense of Carr's position on the record. Conservative commentators and industry allies who have previously supported the DEI investigation did not publicly weigh in on the Disney suit by press time.

Disney has requested a "speedy hearing" and a temporary restraining order. The oldest ABC license under review is scheduled to expire in 2028.