Anna Gomez, the FCC’s only Democrat, he said the public will “remember who obeyed and who resisted. I’m glad Disney is choosing courage over surrender.”
The filing for ABC was filed by attorney Paul Clement, who served as US attorney general under President George W. Bush; and Jennifer Tatel, who was an FCC lawyer during the Obama administration and for part of Trump’s first term. Tatel was promoted to chief counsel in 2017 by then-FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. he said he is “known for his legal acumen, FCC experience and careful judgment.”
This was reported by the ABC TV channel Appearance still meets all the requirements for an honest news program and there is no reason to overturn the 2002 order.
“However, in late March, the Media Bureau ordered KTRK Television (Houston-based ABC station) to file another petition for a Declaratory Judgment on the matter. Appearance‘s status as an honest news interview program,” ABC said. “Concurrently, on April 28, 2026, the Media Bureau issued an emergency order requiring the early filing of all applications for ABC’s license renewal, including KTRK-TV’s.”
While the license review was widely seen as retaliation against ABC for hiring Kimmel, the FCC said it was related to a year-long investigation into ABC violating anti-discrimination rules with its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices. ABC’s filing said the company provided more than 11,000 pages of documents and extensive answers to questions for the FCC investigation. The FCC called ABC’s response inadequate order Directs Disney to submit early license renewal applications for all licensed television stations by May 28.
“Perspective Discrimination and Response Targeting”
Reference Carr’s comments to Fox about AppearanceABC said the FCC has publicly announced its investigation into the program and “foreshadowed the outcome.” Carr said in a televised appearance that “when you look at the line-up of guests who are usually visiting AppearanceI think it’s an uphill climb for Disney to pretend they’re just a straight news program.”
