Hoo boy!
Disney is suing the FCC and I'm over here like...
Try it Disney. You might as well try it. The entertainment value alone will be worth it.
Anyone with a brain is going to find this drama more entertaining than anything you've put out for the past decade.
Okay, let's dive into the details.
The lawsuit argues that the FCC's "unprecedented" order forcing Disney's eight ABC stations to file license renewals years ahead of schedule is "retaliation" for content Trump doesn't like.
From the article:
In late April, the FCC ordered Disney's eight owned-and-operated television stations to file their broadcast license renewals ahead of schedule. The directive came amid a probe into ABC's 'The View' program, as well as a long-running investigation into diversity, equity and inclusion practices at Disney.
All eight of the ABC stations whose licenses were put in jeopardy by the FCC are part of Tuesday's lawsuit.
The move from the FCC also came after the White House and President Donald Trump himself assailed ABC late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel for a joke about first lady Melania Trump.
The lawsuit specifically cites Trump's own social media posts, including one in which he complained that late-night TV hosts 'are almost 100% Negative to President Donald J. Trump' and asked if broadcast licenses should 'be terminated?'
These are important questions, Disney. And for the record, I'm still very entertained by this. Thanks again for that!
Disney argues that the early renewal process is an "existential threat," whatever that means. Apparently, having to prove your stations still serve the public interest is now equivalent to book burning.
More:
'Acting through the Federal Communications Commission, the Administration has waged a retaliatory campaign against ABC for a single reason: it disapproves of what ABC broadcasts,' the suit states. 'That campaign began in this Administration's earliest days and has only intensified since.'
...
'The Commission issued an unprecedented order requiring the Stations to file early applications to renew their licenses — years before any of their licenses would have come up for renewal in the ordinary course and allowing only thirty days to file applications which ordinarily take months to prepare,' attorneys Beth Wilkinson and Paul Clement write in the civil complaint.
They also mention that time they pulled Jimmy Kimmel off the air after he made a joke about Charlie Kirk's murder. But mostly, they're arguing about this early renewal of their licenses.
"If broadcasters don't like that, that's okay," FCC Chairman Brendan Carr told CNBC. "They can become a cable channel, they can become a podcast, they can stream online. But if you want to uniquely be on the public's airwaves, you have to comply with those obligations."
Translation: If you want to be on the public airwaves, you gotta not use them to ram your ideology down everyone's throats.
Get it together, Disney.
And get your popcorn ready, America!
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