Network ABC is under pressure since Kimmel made a joke about Melania Trump three days before the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting.
Following growing pressure from the Trump administration for network chiefs to sack Jimmy Kimmel, Disney-owned TV stations must submit to early licence reviews.
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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said the reviews, which were due to start in October 2028, had been brought forward.
The move comes after talkshow host Jimmy Kimmel made a joke about Melania Trump days before the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting.
On his show, Jimmy Kimmel Live! - on Disney’s ABC network - Kimmel said the First Lady had a "glow like an expectant widow".
A Disney spokesperson confirmed the company had received the FCC's order.
"ABC and its stations have a long record of operating in full compliance with FCC rules and serving their local communities with trusted news, emergency information, and public‑interest programming," they said.
"We are confident that record demonstrates our continued qualifications as licensees under the Communications Act and the First Amendment and are prepared to show that through the appropriate legal channels," the spokesperson added.
Democratic FCC commissioner Anna M Gomez called the FCC's order a "political stunt". She wrote: "This is unprecedented, unlawful, and going nowhere. (...) Companies should challenge it head-on. The First Amendment is on their side."
The Freedom of the Press Foundation also described the FCC’s actions as an “attack on the First Amendment” - which guarantees freedoms concerning religion, expression, assembly, and the right to petition.
The Trumps have demanded the sacking of Kimmel, who was already taken off-air last year over Kimmel’s comments about the killing of Charlie Kirk.
In a post on X, Melania Trump said Kimmel's "hateful and violent rhetoric" intends to divide the US.
"His monologue about my family isn't comedy - his words are corrosive and deepen the political sickness within America. (...) Enough is enough. It is time for ABC to take a stand. How many times will ABC's leadership enable Kimmel's atrocious behaviour at the expense of our community," she wrote.
Kimmel responded to criticism of his joke by saying it was merely a reference to the couple's age difference.
"It was a very light roast joke about the fact that he's almost 80 and she's younger than I am," Kimmel said. "It was not by any stretch of the definition a call to assassination."
Melania Trump’s comments have backfired massively, as comments calling her out for being a hypocrite have gone viral.
Elsewhere, actor George Clooney defended Kimmel during Monday’s Chaplin Award Gala, saying that “jokes are jokes”.
“Jimmy’s a comedian, and I would argue that Karoline Leavitt didn’t mean shots should be fired,” Clooney said, referencing a pre-dinner remark by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. She said she was anticipating “some shots fired tonight in the room,” referring to remarks that Trump was expected to make during the event.
“She was making a joke. Fair enough," continued Clooney. "You look at that side and go, ‘Well, jokes are jokes.’ But the rhetoric is a little dangerous. And we’ve seen it a lot lately.”
Clooney said the extreme rhetoric “can be toned down.” He added: “When one side is calling anyone they disagree with traitors to the country, which is a charge that’s punishable by death, just because they don’t agree with someone, I think the rhetoric is a little too heated.”
