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ABC/Disney is suing the Trump-led FCC over challenges to its broadcast licenses, alleging violations of its First Amendment rights.

Disney-owned ABC is suing the Trump administration’s Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over challenges to its broadcast licenses, saying the commission’s actions present an “existential threat” to the network and violate its First Amendment rights.

The lawsuit, filed by ABC, its parent company Disney, and the eight ABC-owned stations whose licenses are affected by the licensing challenges, asks a federal court to step in to nix the early renewal proceedings.

The FCC, led by Trump ally Brendan Carr, ordered the early review in April of all licenses owned by ABC, years before they are due to expire, as such licenses are issued for eight-year periods. The FCC cited the network’s diversity and inclusion practices among its reasons for the request. However, the move arrived shortly after a joke by ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel—a notable Trump critic—which drew the ire of the president, who has called for Kimmel’s firing.

“Again and again, the administration has attacked ABC’s speech—the stories its journalists report and the viewpoints its network programs air,” the network’s lawsuit claims. “Over time, those attacks have escalated into express demands that ABC be stripped of its broadcast licenses because of its speech.”

“Facing this existential threat, Plaintiffs have no choice but to seek redress from the judicial branch for the administration’s blatant retaliation for their First Amendment speech,” the filing adds, noting that ABC had “no alternative means to eliminate these ongoing and immediate threats other than total capitulation to the administration’s demands.”

The network asks the court to “immediately enjoin Defendants from taking or threatening to take any action against Plaintiffs in relation to the early license renewal applications.”

The conflict between ABC and the administration has been simmering for months. The network has already been fighting Carr’s efforts to force the morning talk show The View, whose hosts and guests are often critical of Trump, to be subject to “equal-time rules.” ABC argues that The View is a “bona fide news program,” meaning it is exempt from equal-time rules, which require granting equal airtime to competing candidates and political views.

“The consequences of the administration’s campaign against free speech reach well beyond ABC,” the network’s lawsuit asserts. “If the administration gets its way, the message to every media company in the country will be unmistakable: tell only stories the administration deems favorable, or face the coercive machinery of the federal government. In such a world, the press could in no way be described as free.”

Moreover, the lawsuit quotes Carr as saying, following the Kimmel remarks that upset the president, “We can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways […] to take action […] on Kimmel, or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”

Longtime FCC commissioner Carr was named chairman by Trump in November 2025, and he has “left little doubt” of his goal in attempting to revoke ABC’s licenses. Free speech attorney Floyd Abrams pointed out that tensions between the press and the FCC are not new, but they are now more pronounced than ever.

“Not until the Trump administration has the government so directly, so deliberately, and so dangerously sought to limit the freedom of the broadcast press to cover and discuss the news,” said Abrams.

On Tuesday, an FCC spokesperson told the press that “all broadcasters have a legal obligation to operate in the public interest—even Disney.” They added that “the FCC has been examining claims that Disney engaged in illegal DEI discrimination for over a year” and that “Disney is obviously very concerned about the FCC’s proceeding, as evidenced by their ongoing campaign of disinformation.”