The decision about whether to keep Jimmy Kimmel on his late-night ABC show depends on far more than his jokes. The choice is complicated by a web of business and regulatory considerations involving ABC’s parent company, other media companies and the Trump administration.
It’s the inevitable result of industry consolidation that over years has built giant corporations with wide-ranging interests.
ABC owner Walt Disney Co., a massive organization with far-flung operations, frequently seeks federal regulatory approval to expand, buy or sell businesses or acquire licenses. And the Trump administration has not spared the company from investigations, opening multiple inquiries in just the past few months to probe possible antitrust, programming and hiring violations.
Kimmel was suspended from his show this week following comments suggesting that fans of Charlie Kirk were trying to capitalize on the conservative activist’s assassination. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr called the remarks “truly sick” and suggested his agency would look into them.
Carr answers to President Donald Trump, who’s already on record as disliking Kimmel’s comedy.
Two companies that operate roughly a quarter of ABC affiliates nationwide, Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcasting, also said they would not air Kimmel’s show.
Disney took a step last December to avoid a confrontation with Trump by paying $15 million to settle the president’s defamation lawsuit against ABC News and George Stephanopoulos. It also made moves to dismantle some of its diversity, equity and inclusion practices, including removing references in its annual report to its Reimagine Tomorrow program aimed at “amplifying underrepresented voices.”
Apparently that wasn’t enough.
In April, the FCC sent a a blistering letter to Disney CEO Bob Iger saying it suspected the company was so thoroughly “infected” with “invidious” practices favoring minorities that it had no choice but to open an investigation.
Among other questions, the probe sought to determine whether Disney had really ended policies designed to ensure characters in its shows and its hiring practices favored “underrepresented groups.”
Meanwhile, a Disney deal struck in January to buy a stake in the streaming service FuboTV. That fell under scrutiny, too, with several reports that the Justice Department was investigating possible antitrust violations.
The Federal Trade Commission also launched a probe into whether Disney broke rules by gathering personal data from children watching its videos without permission from parents. Disney settled the case earlier this month by paying $10 million and agreeing to change its practices.
Disney also needs approval from the Trump administration for ESPN to complete its acquisition of the NFL Network.
It hasn’t helped that Disney was a target for many conservatives well before the current controversy. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis battled with the company over its criticism of a DeSantis-backed law that restricted discussion of sexual orientation in schools.
Kirk wasn’t a fan, either, criticizing Disney when it closed Splash Mountain rides at theme parks three years ago because they were based on a 1946 film about the plantation life in the South. The move, his website posted, was “destructive to our cultural and societal fabric.”
The companies with ABC stations that put out statements disavowing Kimmel have their own business before the government. Nexstar needs the Trump administration’s approval to complete its $6.2 billion purchase of broadcast rival Tegna.
Sinclair has its own regulatory challenges. In June, it entered into an agreement with the FCC to fix problems with paperwork filed to the agency and to observe rules about advertising on children’s shows and closed captioning requirements. It has also petitioned the regulator to relax rules limiting broadcaster ownership of stations.
The companies are being asked by advocates and others to put aside their financial concerns to stand up strongly for free speech.
“Where has all the leadership gone?” ex-Disney CEO Michael Eisner wrote Friday on social media. “If not for university presidents, law firm managing partners and corporate chief executives standing up to bullies, then who will step up for the First Amendment?”
The administration’s attacks on Kimmel have also been attacked in some unexpected places, such as the Wall Street Journal and Bari Weiss’ website, the Free Press, both known for their conservative editorial voices.
The comedian’s comments don’t justify the right wing’s move toward regulatory censorship, the Journal wrote in an editorial. “As victims of cancel culture for so long, conservatives more than anyone should oppose it,” the Journal wrote. “They will surely be the targets again when the left returns to power.”
“When a network drops a high-profile talent hours after the FCC chairman makes a barely veiled threat, then it’s no longer just a business decision,” the Free Press wrote in an editorial. “It’s government coercion. Is it now Trump administration policy to punish broadcasters for comedy that doesn’t conform to its politics?”