Jimmy Kimmel remains on summer vacation, but the late-night TV host will be walking into quite the firestorm when he returns. His bosses at ABC have ramped up the battle with the Federal Communications Commission and chair Brendan Carr.
In a 119-page regulatory filing submitted Thursday, the Disney-owned company accused Carr of attempting to censor the media through government pressure. ABC argued that Carr's actions go far beyond a routine review of broadcast licenses, describing them as a direct threat to freedom of the press.
"The retaliation against ABC is a signal to every media company in the country: accommodate the Administration's view of what news coverage should look like or pay the price," the network wrote. "Across the government, regulatory and contracting carrots and sticks have been trained on other disfavored speakers," the filing states. "The tools vary; the objective does not: a media industry too fearful of official reprisal to report the news freely."
The filing marks the strongest public response ABC has made since FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced that eight ABC-owned television stations would face additional scrutiny over Disney's diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and whether the stations were operating in the public interest.
Carr has also criticized ABC's programming decisions. The FCC head argued that the network should have carried President Donald Trump's recent primetime address instead of its regularly scheduled programming.
A certain section of media observers aren't buying the FCC's reasoning for the broadcast review. Critics argue that the Trump administration is looking to punish ABC, partly because it continues to air Jimmy Kimmel Live!. Even prominent conservative voices have come to the defense of Kimmel and ABC.
Kimmel has been one of President Trump's most outspoken critics on television, regularly spending large portions of his episodes to mocking the administration. The tension appeared to intensify after Kimmel made jokes about First Lady Melania Trump, prompting outrage from Trump's allies and renewed calls from the president for ABC to fire the comedian.
ABC's latest filing does not directly metion Kimmel or his show, but its argument has obvious implications for late-night television. If the network believes it is being punished over editorial content, that would include shows like Jimmy Kimmel Live, where political satire is a central part of the show's identity.
The network also saw what happened to Stephen Colbert and CBS. Again, no direct links between the Trump administration and the cancellation of The Late Show have been proven. But there's enough smoke for critics and fan to draw their own conclusions about how much government censorhip played a role.
Thankfully, ABC is not following the playbook set by CBS. Instead, the network is only building a stronger defense and pushing back harder. Kimmel and his fans should applaud the network sticking up for its independence.
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