FCC to Investigate ABC News’ Parent Company, Disney Over its D.E.I. Efforts

Disney, ABC News’ parent company, is the latest media company to fall under the FCC microscope as it is being investigated for its D.E.I. practices.

FCC chair Brendan Carr sent a letter to Disney CEO Robert Iger stating, “Numerous reports indicate that Disney’s leadership went all in on invidious forms of D.E.I. discrimination a few years ago and did so in a manner that infected many aspects of your company’s decisions.”

ABC News does not fall under the FCC’s purview, but ABC’s eight-owned and operated stations are, and it wants to review whether they have violated any  FCC equal employment opportunity regulations. 

In addition, the FCC will also look at ABC’s policy that at least 50 percent of characters in TV pilots be from underrepresented groups.

For its part, Disney, in a statement, said, “We are reviewing the Federal Communications Commission’s letter, and we look forward to engaging with the commission to answer its questions.”

This is familiar territory for ABC News, which has already come under scrutiny from President Donald Trump. Last December, the news division settled its lawsuit with the president for $15 million over comments that anchor George Stephanopoulos made on a March 10, 2024 edition of his Sunday show, This Week. 

As part of the settlement, the network included an editor’s note in the online article accompanying the broadcast, which stated: “ABC News and George Stephanopoulos regret statements regarding President Donald J. Trump made during an interview by George Stephanopoulos with Rep. Nancy Mace.”

The Associated Press reports that Disney has altered some of its D.E.I. positions in recent months. For example, it has changed the language at the beginning of some of its movies from “negative depictions and/or mistreatment of peoples or culture” to “this program is presented as originally created and may contain stereotypes or negative depictions.”

It joins NBCUniversal and Paramount Global as media companies with ties to news operations receiving the FCC treatment since the beginning of the second term of the Donald Trump administration.

The FCC does not have direct jurisdiction over NBCUniversal properties. Still, the news division could be affected by the outcome of the investigation due to its parent company, Comcast, cable and high-speed internet business, as they fall under the regulatory oversight umbrella of the FCC.

NBCUniversal is also expected to finalize the spinning off of its cable units into a separate company in the next few months, which will require government approval. 

Meanwhile, Paramount Global is in the final stages of its merger with Skydance Media and needs government approval, too. On top of that, CBS News’ Sunday night newsmagazine, 60 Minutes, is facing a $20 billion lawsuit brought on by the president, who alleges the news network engaged in “deceitful” editing of a 60 Minutes interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris. 

Carr made an official request for the unedited interview transcript, leading the network to publicly release the transcript and video footage of the interview on its website.