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Credit: DisneyThe Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is gearing up to investigate The Walt Disney Company’s ABC subsidiary over its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) practices and initiatives. The news comes amid widespread attacks on DEI policies across the country.
In an interview with Punchbowl News, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said he was putting the “finishing touches” on a letter to The Walt Disney Company that would kickstart the DEI investigation. Carr didn’t state which of ABC’s DEI practices, if any, sparked his interest in investigating the Disney subsidiary.
Carr said the probe would address concerns similar to those of ongoing investigations into DEI practices at Comcast and Verizon.
“Whether they’re engaged in any sort of this DEI discrimination that could run afoul of our EEO rules or potentially our public interest standard… we’re going to get to the bottom of everything that is ongoing here and stay tuned on that one,” Carr said.
The FCC chairman previously sent a letter to Disney CEO Bob Iger, warning him that the government was watching ABC’s ongoing carriage negotiations with local broadcasting networks. Carr accused ABC of “attempting to extract onerous financial and operational concessions from local broadcast TV stations under the threat of terminating long-held affiliations, which could result in blackouts and other harms to local consumers of broadcast news and content.”
Earlier this year, The FCC reinstated a “news distortion” complaint against Philadelphia ABC affiliate WPVI after it fact-checked Donald Trump during a presidential debate against Kamala Harris.
Carr encouraged all FCC-regulated companies, including Disney, to end DEI practices.
“What I’ve suggested to regulated companies — not just ones that are looking to do deals before the FCC but all businesses regulated by the FCC — is I suggest that they get busy ending their promotion of DEI,” he told Punchbowl News.
The Walt Disney Company has ended some of its DEI initiatives in the months since President Donald Trump returned to the White House. In February, Disney deleted the “Reimagine Tomorrow” campaign from its website—the initiative aimed to tell stories from underrepresented groups.
However, Disney hasn’t totally abandoned Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. At its Annual Shareholders Meeting earlier this month, the board recommended against a shareholder proposal to withdraw from the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index (CEI), which measures workplace equity for members of the LGBTQIA+ community. Shareholders voted against the proposal, and the measure to withdraw from the CEI failed.
Should the FCC investigate private businesses’ DEI practices? Share your thoughts with Inside the Magic in the comments.