The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has ordered an expedited review of eight local broadcast licenses held by ABC, a network owned by Disney. This regulatory action follows a joke made by late-night host Jimmy Kimmel about former First Lady Melania Trump on his program. The FCC's decision was announced the day after former President Donald Trump publicly called for Kimmel to be fired.
According to reports from Folha de S.Paulo, the FCC's move is directly linked to the controversy. The Brazilian outlet frames the sequence of events clearly: Trump demanded Kimmel's dismissal, and the FCC then initiated the license review. The BBC corroborates this timeline, noting the review comes as the White House pressures Disney to terminate Kimmel's employment. The specific joke that sparked the controversy involved Kimmel referring to Melania Trump with a phrase described as "expectant widow."
The BBC's coverage includes reporting from outside Kimmel's studio in Los Angeles, posing the broader question of whether a comedian should lose their job for a joke. This framing introduces a debate about the limits of comedy and political criticism, a perspective not explicitly highlighted in the Folha de S.Paulo report, which focuses more on the factual chain of political and regulatory reactions.
Neither source provides detailed commentary from the FCC on its reasoning, nor do they include a substantive response from Disney or ABC regarding the pressure or the review. The reports present the situation as a direct clash between political power and media content, with a federal regulatory body becoming involved following criticism from a former president.