The FCC has ordered ABC and Disney to renew its broadcasting licenses, believing that the company has engaged in “unlawful discrimination.” FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has criticized Disney’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies.
The FCC said in its notice that it has been investigating Disney’s ABC for possible violations of the Communications Act of 1934 and the FCC’s rules, including the agency’s prohibition against “unlawful discrimination.” This process is known as an early license review. The FCC licenses ABC’s broadcast television stations, which operate on the publicly owned airwaves.
It noted that while the Disney’s ABC has purported to respond to two FCC letters, the agency has determined that “additional actions are appropriate at this time.”
The agency wrote:
Specifically, 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.1
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.3. The FCC determines that calling in Disney’s ABC licenses for early renewal, at this time, under the Communications Act’s public interest standard is essential within the meaning of agency regulations. Therefore, Disney’s ABC is hereby directed to file license renewals for all of their licensed TV stations within 30 days–in other words, by May 28, 2026.
Carr said in March 2025 that he has long had issues with ABC’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies.
In his March 2025 letter, Carr wrote to Bob Iger, the then-CEO of Disney:
For one, I want to ensure that Disney ends any and all discriminatory initiatives in substance, not just name. For another, I want to determine whether Disney’s actions—whether ongoing or
recently ended—complied at all times with applicable FCC regulations.As you know, Disney started out a century ago as an iconic American company. For decades, Disney focused on churning out box office and programming successes. But then something changed. Disney has now been embroiled in rounds of controversy surrounding its DEI policies.
Numerous reports indicate that Disney’s leadership went all in on invidious forms of DEI discrimination a few years ago and apparently did so in a manner that infected many aspects of your company’s decisions. [Emphasis added]
He noted in his 2025 letter to Disney that Disney had made it a “key priority” for the company’s business:
It also implemented mandatory “Inclusion Standards” across ABC, requiring, for example, that “50 percent of regular and recurring characters” be drawn from “underrepresented groups.” These standards may have forced racial and identity quotas into every level of production—demanding that “50% or more” of writers, directors, crew, and vendors be selected based on group identity. It appears that executive bonuses may also have been tied to DEI “performance,” and ABC has utilized race-based hiring databases and restricted fellowships to select demographic groups.
Carr noted that President Donald Trump has made it a key priority of his administration to end controversial DEI practices. The FCC chairman moved to end the agency’s own DEI policies and has policed corporate DEI policies.
“As Chairman of the FCC, it is important to me that the entities the Commission regulates fully adhere to the FCC’s rules and regulations,” Carr concluded in his letter to Disney. “In order to aid the FCC’s investigation into these matters, the Commission’s Enforcement Bureau will be engaging with your company to obtain an accounting of Disney and ABC’s DEI programs, policies, and practices. The Enforcement Bureau will follow up with more specifics.”