US regulator to review Disney broadcast licences after Jimmy Kimmel joke about Melania Trump

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. US regulator to review Disney broadcast licences after Jimmy Kimmel joke about Melania Trump 8 hours ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Madeline Halpert and Regan Morris , Los Angeles Watch: Jimmy Kimmel defends 'expectant widow' joke after first lady criticism The US Federal Communications Commission is ordering an early review of Disney's television broadcast licences days after President Donald Trump called for the firing of late-night host Jimmy Kimmel. Trump had urged ABC - whose parent company is Disney - to pull Kimmel's show after the comedian joked that Melania Trump had the glow of an "expectant widow". Kimmel made the remarks days before a gunman fired shots at a gala attended by the Trumps.

In an order on Tuesday, the FCC said it had been investigating Disney's ABC stations for possible violations, including unlawful discrimination. A Disney spokesperson told the that ABC and its stations serve the public within FCC guidelines. The 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", the company spokesperson said.

The Details

"Our focus remains, as always, on serving viewers in the local communities where our stations operate. " The FCC order directs the company to file licence-renewal applications for all of its licensed TV stations within 30 days. The agency as part of its renewal review can require Disney to prove that it meets the agency's public-interest standards.

The Disney-owned ABC television station licences were not scheduled for renewal until 2028. The reviews could lead to the revocation of the stations' licences to broadcast, an action the commission has not taken in more than 40 years, reported. In a statement, Democratic FCC commissioner Anna M Gomez called the FCC's order "a political stunt".

"This is unprecedented, unlawful, and going nowhere," she wrote on X. "Companies should challenge it head-on. The First Amendment is on their side.

What Experts Say

" The move comes as the White House has continued to pressure ABC to fire Kimmel. White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said on Tuesday that Kimmel should be "shunned for the rest of his life". At the start of his show on Monday night, Kimmel had defended his comments about the first lady.

"It 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," he said. "I've been very vocal for many years speaking out against gun violence in particular," Kimmel added.

Earlier on Monday, Trump had called his late-night sketch a "call to violence" and Melania Trump accused Kimmel of deepening "the political sickness within America". The US president and his wife were evacuated unharmed from a gala dinner on Saturday night after a gunman opened fire near a security checkpoint at the Washington Hilton.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.