Can ABC lose its licenses? Trump's FCC warns after Kimmel's ‘expectant widow' joke

The Trump-appointed FCC chairman is set to conduct a formal review of Disney’s eight ABC-owned broadcast licenses after a late-night joke that drew the ire of President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump.

According to reports from CNN, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr will reportedly review licenses owned by ABC’s owned-and-operated stations.

The strict move is initiated following Jimmy Kimmel quipped in his late-night show about Melania Trump.

Although the FCC can claim that its review is part of a larger investigation into Disney's DEI practices, critics argue that this is political retribution at work. In the past, Carr had warned that he would look into any TV stations guilty of “news distortion” should they not fire Kimmel after his comments regarding the killing of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.

After the First Lady’s tweet, President Trump also posted on Truth Social, demanding that Disney and ABC should “immediately” fire him.

Melania described his joke as “hateful and rhetoric.”

Responding to the tweets, Kimmel defended his joke on Monday’s episode, referring to it as a “very light roast” and “not by any stretch of the definition a call to assassination.”

Although the FCC Chairman has publicly cited that ABC could lose its broadcast licenses over Jimmy Kimmel’s joke and Disney’s DEI practice, legal experts suggest that actual revocation can face enormous hurdles.

In the U.S., the broadcast licenses typically last for eight years. Although the FCC holds the authority to revoke a broadcasting license, the power is rarely used as high-stake legal processes are restricted by the Communications Act of 1934, and the First Amendment hinders the way.