Disney and ABC sue Trump's media regulator to stop early licence renewal

The FCC ordered licence renewals for the Disney-owned ABC stations in April.Disney previously had been under investigation for its alleged diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices and for ABC's daytime talk show, The View.But the notice for early renewal of licence from the FCC came a day after ABC's late-night host Jimmy Kimmel made a joke about first lady Melania Trump.In the lawsuit, Disney calls the order by the FCC "unprecedented", saying that before then the commission had not called for early renewal in over 50 years."Acting through the Federal Communications Commission, the Administration has waged a retaliatory campaign against ABC for a single reason: it disapproves of what ABC broadcasts," the lawsuit says. It cites Trump's own social media posts as evidence, including one in which Trump complained about ABC's coverage of him being "almost 100% negative". In the same social media post, Trump also questioned whether their broadcast licences should "be terminated", and answered his own question: "I say, Yes!".The FCC gave ABC and Disney 30 days to file applications, which, according to plaintiffs in the lawsuit, "ordinarily take months to prepare".