FCC has formally directed Disney’s ABC stations to file renewals for all of their licensed television outlets within 30 days, a move triggered in part by backlash over Kimmel’s recent “joke” on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in which he said that First Lady Melania Trump had “the glow of an expectant widow.”
The segment aired two days before an armed man attempted to break into the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington, D.C, and shot one Secret Service agent in his bulletproof vest while attempting to reach the main hall. The suspect, Cole Tomas Allen, has since been federally charged with attempting to assassinate Trump, The Dallas Express previously reported.
The FCC filing cites an ongoing investigation into whether Disney’s ABC stations have violated the Communications Act of 1934 and possibly other FCC rules. The eight Disney-owned ABC stations named in the filing include big-name market outlets such as KABC in Los Angeles and WABC in New York, all of which have been directed to submit license renewals by May 28.
The National Religious Broadcasters Association also separately filed a formal complaint with the FCC, arguing that Kimmel’s remarks about the First Lady being a “widow” raised concerns about “the normalization and potential incitement of political violence” and calling for a full investigation.
“We should be relieved that lives were spared Saturday evening; but relief can’t become complacency. We’re seeing a pattern of violence in this country that didn’t appear overnight. When influential voices joke about death or treat political opponents as disposable, it contributes to a culture where violence feels thinkable to the already unstable. National platforms carry real weight, and with that comes responsibility. That’s why this warranted action,” said NRB President & CEO Troy A. Miller.
Both the President and the First Lady publicly demanded ABC fire Kimmel. Melania Trump took to X on Monday to write, “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,” the First Lady added.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt echoed those criticisms at the podium Monday.
Kimmel, for his part, pushed back during his Monday night monologue, calling the “expectant widow” line “a very light roast joke about the fact that he’s almost 80 and she’s younger than I am.” He insisted the comment was “not, by any stretch of the definition, a call to assassination.”
If this sounds familiar, that’s because it is – almost down to the script.
As The Dallas Express previously reported, Kimmel faced a similar firestorm after remarks during his September 15, 2025, monologue in which he accused conservatives of trying to “score political points” from the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr responded at the time by calling out ABC affiliates: “We can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
Kimmel’s show, however, was only suspended from September 17 through September 22 of 2025.
When Kimmel returned on September 23, instead of offering the apology many expected, he became emotional, stating that he never meant to make light of a young man’s murder, without apologizing.
Andrew Kolvet of Turning Point USA said the September 2025 monologue was simply “not good enough,” per Fox News. Regardless, the show went on to pull in 6.26 million viewers that night, according to Forbes.
When Kimmel responded to the backlash over his most recent “expectant widow” comment this week, he took a familiar approach: he acknowledged the controversy, pushed back on the criticism, and shifted the focus away from it without an apology.
However, what’s different this time is the corporate landscape. ABC now reports to a new Disney CEO as of February 6, 2026. Josh D’Amaro, who took over from Bob Iger. This means the Kimmel controversy has landed squarely on D’Amaro’s shoulders, and many are now wondering whether Kimmel will face any real repercussions this time around
