Credit: Video Screenshot, 'The View', ABCOn September 17, Disney and ABC shocked everyone when they announced they would immediately pull Jimmy Kimmel Live! from the air after Kimmel criticized Donald Trump. The decision rocked the entertainment industry, and Disney was immediately condemned for the decision. The company was called out by the Producers Guild, the Writers Guild, the Screen Actors Guild, comedians like Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart, and even former President Barack Obama.
In response to Kimmel’s suspension, a large crowd gathered outside The Walt Disney Company’s studio lot in Burbank, California. They held signs that called out the Mouse House for not standing up for free speech.
Related: Jimmy Kimmel Given List of Demands In Order to Get Back On Air
After Mr. Kimmel made his comments about the President’s most recent statement about Charlie Kirk’s death, Brendan Carr, head of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), went on a conservative podcast and made a thinly veiled threat.
“This is a very, very serious issue right now for Disney. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to take action on Kimmel, or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
Despite the fact that Disney appeared to cave to Mr. Carr’s threat and pulled Jimmy Kimmel off the air, he does not appear ready to back down on his attacks on Disney.
The day after Kimmel was suspended, Carr went on The Scott Jennings Radio Show and said that the FCC might also consider going after The View. President Trump has often found himself at odds with the women of The View, as they have been very critical of his actions, his policies, and the current state of the Republican Party in general.
When you look at these other TV shows, what’s interesting is the FCC does have a rule called the equal opportunity rule. But there’s an exception to that rule called the bona fide news exception, which means if you are a bona fide news program, you don’t have to abide by the equal opportunity rule.
And over the years, the FCC has developed a body of case law on that and has suggested that most of these late night shows, other than SNL, are bona fide news programs. And potentially I would assume you can make the argument that The View is a bona fide news show, but I’m not so sure about that, and I think it’s worthwhile to have the FCC look into whether The View and some of the programs that you have still qualify as bona fide news programs and therefore exempt from the equal opportunity regime that Congress has put in place.
Related: Donald Trump Slams ‘The View’ Over Recent Comments, Says It Will Be “Pulled Off Air”
While Mr. Carr says that there is an “equal opportunity rule,” that only applies to candidates who appear on a “bona fide newscast.” Now, The View is produced by ABC News, but it is debatable whether it qualifies as a newscast. It should also be noted that The View has hosts who fall on both sides of the political spectrum and has interviewed everyone from former presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden to the late John McCain and Senator Ted Cruz.
This is not the first time Donald Trump has targeted The View. Mr. Trump has gone after the hit morning show multiple times. At one point, it was reported that Bob Iger and ABC News President Almin Karamehmedovic had asked the women to “tone down” their criticisms of Trump. The women pushed back, and the topic was dropped.
The View was rated the number one daytime talk show in the first quarter of 2025, so we don’t know if Bob Iger and ABC will approach it the same way as they approached Jimmy Kimmel. However, it is interesting to note that the women actively avoided talking about Mr. Kimmel’s suspension on the show the morning after his show’s suspension was announced.
Do you think Disney and ABC need to stand up to Brendan Carr and the FCC if the department tries to go after The View? Do you think Disney should fight the threats and possibly take the Trump administration to court? Should they reinstate Jimmy Kimmel and stand behind all their talk show hosts? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!