The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has launched an investigation into Disney and ABC, claiming that their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives may violate federal anti-discrimination laws.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced the call for an investigation in a letter to Disney CEO Robert Iger, where he expressed concerns that Disney’s DEI policies might promote “invidious forms of discrimination” in hiring and content creation.
The FCC’s investigation now aims to determine whether the company has followed equal employment opportunity laws, which prohibit discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, age, or gender.
“While Disney started as an iconic American company, it recently went all in on DEI,” Carr said.
“In recent years, Disney made DEI a key priority, embedding explicit race- and gender-based criteria across its operations. Indeed, public reports—including ones based on whistleblower documents—paint a disturbing picture of Disney’s DEI practices,” he added in another post alongside the letter.
Carr also highlighted several Disney initiatives that raised concerns, including the company’s “Reimagine Tomorrow” campaign, which aimed to give power to “underrepresented voices” in media.
Additionally, the FCC Chairman pointed to hiring policies that reportedly tied executive bonuses to diversity goals and inclusion standards that required a percentage of on-screen and behind-the-scenes talent to come from “underrepresented” groups.
Carr further claims that Disney held a past requirement that 50% of recurring characters and production teams be from “underrepresented” backgrounds.
The letter references whistleblower accounts claiming that Disney implemented race-based hiring strategies and restricted certain opportunities to select demographic groups.
While Disney has recently made some changes to some of its DEI initiatives, Carr says that the FCC intends to verify whether past and current policies comply with federal regulations.
“I want to ensure that Disney ends any and all discriminatory initiatives in substance, not just name,” Carr wrote.
The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau will now conduct the investigation into Disney to obtain documentation of its DEI-related policies.
The findings could have major implications for the company, especially if any violations of federal anti-discrimination laws are found.