Actor and activist Jane Fonda, founder of the modern First Amendment Commission, strongly criticized the FCC’s order requiring local stations under Disney’s ABC to apply for early renewal of their broadcast licenses. The agency’s Tuesday order came a day after President Trump and first lady Melania Trump asked Disney and ABC to fire Jimmy Kimmel over a joke he made about him looking like a “pregnant widow.”
“FCC Chairman Brendan Kerr’s latest order to review the broadcast licenses of all ABC stations is a naked attempt to weaponize government power against opponents,” Fonda said in a statement provided to Variety.
Fonda went on to say, “What we’re seeing fits into a deliberate and deeply problematic pattern of authoritarian regimes throughout history, and the First Amendment and the fact that the government has no power to decide who gets to speak in a free society. Anyone who believes in fundamental principles should be alarmed: We must come together to call out clearly and forcefully what this is: a systematic use of federal power to narrow the scope of permissible speech until only authorized voices remain.”
In its order, the FCC’s Bureau of Media said it was asking ABC to conduct an expedited review of the licenses of eight ABC-owned and operated stations based on its investigation into Disney and ABC over potential violations of the FCC’s “prohibition against unlawful discrimination.” That means the bureau specifically examines media conglomerates’ diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices.
But the timing of the order left the distinct impression that the FCC was acting in response to conservative outrage over Kimmel’s joke. The license renewal deadline for eight of ABC’s stations was until 2028 at the earliest, and some stations did not have their licenses renewed until 2031.
In a statement about the FCC’s order, a Disney spokesperson said in part, “ABC and its stations have a long track record of operating in full compliance with FCC rules and providing reliable news, emergency information, and public interest programming to our communities. We believe that our record continues to demonstrate our licensee status under the Communications Act and the First Amendment, and we are prepared to demonstrate that through appropriate legal channels.”
The FCC has not commented beyond the Media Bureau’s orders.
The late-night host of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on April 27 defended his comments about Melania, saying, “It’s a very light joke about the fact that he’s almost 80 years old and she’s younger than me. It’s not a call for assassination by any stretch of the imagination. And they know it.” “I agree that we should reject this hateful and violent rhetoric,” he added, addressing the first lady, “and I think the best starting point for reversing it is to talk to her husband about it.”
Last October, Fonda relaunched the First Amendment Commission, a McCarthy-era initiative founded in the 1940s by her father, Henry Fonda, to defend against attacks on free speech.
