Disney Faces Trump's Legal Threats After Reinstating Kimmel

Walt Disney Co. is preparing to face potential legal challenges from Donald Trump following the decision to reinstate late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel. The company had anticipated that the Trump administration might take action against its broadcast licenses, even before Kimmel's controversial remarks on the attempted assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk on September 15.

During Trump's presidency, major media companies faced unprecedented challenges. The president himself sued several media companies for alleged bias, with some cases resulting in settlements that disappointed free speech advocates. Government officials also frequently used their authority to influence media coverage.

Trump and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr have threatened to revoke Disney's local television station broadcast licenses and those held by affiliated television operators. As the parent company of ABC, Disney is currently seeking approval from other federal agencies for two transactions: the acquisition of the National Football League's media assets and the merger of FuboTV with its Hulu live TV service.

Anonymous sources familiar with Disney's internal thinking revealed that the company's management has consulted with legal experts and is confident of winning any cases related to broadcast licenses. Historically, the FCC has had limited success in controlling critical speech.

However, the fate of Disney's current and future transactions remains uncertain, as the government has broad intervention powers in areas where constitutional issues are not clearly defined.

Previously, the FCC failed to decide on the merger between Paramount Global and Skydance Media within its self-imposed 180-day informal deadline. At the time, Trump's lawyers were negotiating a settlement for his lawsuit against CBS News, alleging that the network edited interview content to favor his 2024 election opponent Kamala Harris.

Ultimately, after reaching a settlement, the FCC approved the merger. CBS News also announced that it would stop airing Stephen Colbert's late-night talk show at the end of the season and establish an oversight position to monitor CBS News content.

During Trump's first term, the Department of Justice sued to block the acquisition of Time Warner by AT&T. Although the companies eventually won the lawsuit, the acquisition took nearly two years to complete.

Last year, Disney paid 1600 million dollars, including 100 million dollars in legal fees, to settle a lawsuit brought by Trump. The lawsuit alleged that ABC News host George Stephanopoulos made defamatory statements.

Disney executives were aware that reinstating Kimmel would anger the president, as Kimmel had long used Trump as a punchline in his show. However, they believed it was necessary to defend free speech rights.

Previously, Kimmel's remarks on the attempted assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk sparked a backlash, leading Disney to suspend his show on September 17.

This backlash also included threats from Carr, who suggested that Disney and its affiliates could lose their broadcast licenses. He encouraged independent operators of ABC's local stations to stop airing the show to avoid having their licenses revoked.

In a podcast, Carr stated, "It's time for these license-holding broadcasters to stand up and tell Comcast and Disney, 'We're going to pause airing (Kimmel's show). Until you fix this problem, we won't air Kimmel's show again.'"

Two major television station operators have taken action. Nexstar Media Group Inc. and Sinclair Inc., which cover 23% of the United States, have removed Kimmel's show from their broadcast schedules and have not restored it to date.

Attempting to revoke a television station operator's license would be a lengthy and difficult process, first requiring action within the FCC and potentially leading to legal proceedings, as FCC decisions can be challenged through legal means.

Preston Padden, of the ABC television network, stated, "According to our constitution and the Communications Act, a broadcaster's FCC license cannot be revoked solely because they aired content that the president dislikes."

From the outset, Disney intended for the show to be temporarily suspended, initially announcing an "indefinite suspension" rather than a cancellation. The company later described Kimmel's remarks as "inappropriate and lacking empathy." Kimmel, who has been with Disney for over 20 years, disagreed with the company's suspension decision and was unhappy about being taken off the air. Previously, he had frequently joked about Trump on his show without any interference from the company.

One day after the show was suspended, Disney CEO Bob Iger and co-chair of the entertainment division Dana Walden met with Kimmel to mediate the dispute. Over the weekend, the two sides met again, paving the way for Kimmel's return.

On Tuesday, Trump posted on social media, suggesting that he might take legal action against Disney. He implied that Kimmel's criticism of him on the show could be seen as "paid political speech," and that Disney's actions amounted to providing political donations to the Democratic Party.

In his post, the president wrote, "Kimmel is just another 'mouthpiece' for the Democratic National Committee (DNC). As far as I know, this is clearly 'illegal political contributions,' and the nature is serious. I think we should ask ABC for an explanation and see what happens. The last time I took action against them, they gave me 1600 million dollars. This time, the (compensation) sounds like it could be even more generous."