Posted in: ABC, Opinion, TV, TV | Tagged: ABC, disney, fcc, Jimmy Kimmel, opinion, trump

Kimmel Fallout: Trump's FCC Will Target Disney's ABC Stations: Report

After Jimmy Kimmel pushed back against calls for his firing by Trump and others, the FCC is reportedly targeting Disney-owned ABC stations.

In a move that, sadly, many of us saw coming, Donald Trump's Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is reportedly set to issue an order directing Disney's eight owned-and-operated television stations to file for their broadcast license renewals ahead of schedule. The Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia, Houston, Raleigh-Durham, and Fresno stations weren't set to come up for renewal until 2028, with each station having 30 days to comply with the FCC's order. The move comes the day after late-night host Jimmy Kimmel pushed back on calls by Trump, Melania Trump, the Trump Administration, and their social media/podcast lackeys, who made Kimmel the scapegoat for the hate and divisiveness that fueled the shooter at the White House Correspondents' Dinner (WHCD) on Saturday night. While ignoring the role the administration has played in where things currently stand across the nation, Trump's folks demanded that ABC fire Kimmel for a joke he made during a segment of his talk show last week, during which Kimmel offered a WHCD roast. Reportedly, FCC Chair Brendan Carr will use a look into the stations' DEI practices as cover for what one source claims is retaliation against Kimmel, ABC, and Disney.

Jimmy Kimmel Pushes Back on Trump, Calls Out Leavitt for "Shots Fired"

After getting a rousing reaction from the audience, who were chanting his name, Kimmel joked about having a typical day: waking up to Melania Trump wanting him to get fired. "You know how sometimes you wake up in the morning and the first lady puts out a statement demanding you be fired from your job? We've all been there, right?" the late-night host joked.

From there, Kimmel recapped what took place over the weekend, before referring back to his mock WHCD segment from last Thursday. Kimmel explained that the "expectant widow" joke was about Trump's health and had nothing to do with inciting violence – and that Trump's folks knew that. "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. And they know that," Kimmel noted.

After reminding viewers of his position in the past on gun violence, Kimmel noted that the Trump Administration should be the ones to take their own advice and dial down the rhetoric. As an example, Kimmel said that if he's going to be held accountable for a joke from five days ago, then White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt should be held to the same standard when she joked about how there were going to be "shots fired" by Trump to FOX "News" only an hour or so before the evacuation.

But to make sure that viewers knew that Trump didn't always have a negative opinion of Kimmel, the late-night host shared a clip from 2010 where Trump had nothing but love for Kimmel:

How We Got to This Point…

"Welcome to the 2026 White House Correspondents' Dinner! Look at you all dressed up in formal wear – dresses, tuxedos – I haven't seen this much black since every page of the Trump-Epstein Files," Kimmel kicked off his version of a WHCD roast during his show last Thursday night. "We're gonna have fun tonight, and I'm happy you decided to stay, Mr. President. And don't worry, if we bruise your ego, it'll only make your hands look less disgusting." Shifting to Melania, Kimmel joked, "Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow."

Kimmel continued, "As you're all aware, Melania's a movie star now. Her documentary has a score of 10 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, which is a website named after her husband's testicles. I want to congratulate you, Madam First Lady, on your huge accomplishment: the world's first motionless picture." During the segment, Kimmel would cut to footage of the folks in question, as if they were in attendance.

But Donald and Melania weren't the only roast topics Kimmel had planned, with JD Vance getting the spotlight: "It's hard to get JD to come to an event like this. He's a real homebody. His wife had to peel him off the couch. That reminds me: please do not get up from your seats during the performance because the vice president will fuck them." Kimmel's segment also went after Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, Stephen Miller, Kash Patel, Pete Hegseth, RFK Jr., and Carr.

"Kimmel's hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country. His monologue about my family isn't comedy- his words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America. People like Kimmel shouldn't have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate. A coward, Kimmel hides behind ABC because he knows the network will keep running cover to protect him. Enough is enough. It is time for ABC to take a stand. How many times will ABC's leadership enable Kimmel's atrocious behavior at the expense of our community," Melania posted earlier today.

"Wow, Jimmy Kimmel, who is in no way funny as attested to by his terrible Television Ratings, made a statement on his Show that is really shocking. He showed a fake video of the First Lady, Melania, and our son, Barron, like they were actually sitting in his studio, listening to him speak, which they weren't, and never would be. He then stated, 'Our First Lady, Melania, is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow,'" Trump posted on social media, short after Melania's post. "A day later a lunatic tried entering the ballroom of the White House Correspondents Dinner, loaded up with a shotgun, handgun, and many knives. He was there for a very obvious and sinister reason. I appreciate that so many people are incensed by Kimmel's despicable call to violence, and normally would not be responsive to anything that he said but, this is something far beyond the pale. Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP"

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