ABC, Disney, and the FCC Are Now Caught in the Crossfire
By TRH World Desk
New Delhi, May 1, 2026 — Jimmy Kimmel in his latest roast of US President said if ratings were to decide jobs, then both he and Trump be fired. US President Donald Trump is ranting against Kimmel, calling upon ABC to fire the comedian. Trump versus Kimmel is now a story that runs parallel to the US President’s second term. Trump fires his Truth Social posts. Kimmel roasts him with more intensity.
In his latest roast of the US President, Kimmel told his audience that Trump is distracting attention from the Epstein file and a war with Iran that has gone wrong. ABC refuses to fire Kimmel, while the comedian commands a massive surge for his late-night shows.
A joke about Melania Trump ignited one of the most explosive clashes between Trump and Kimmel. The fallout is reshaping the future of late-night television and press freedom in America.
The controversy began after Kimmel made a joke about First Lady Melania Trump during a segment tied to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. He described her as having “a glow like an expectant widow.”
Trump fired back. He called Kimmel’s remark “a despicable call to violence.” Trump sought from the ABC and its parent company Walt Disney to immediately fire the late-night comedian. Melania Trump also weighed in, accusing Kimmel of spreading “hateful and violent rhetoric” intended to divide the country, and calling on ABC’s leadership to take action.
Kimmel pushed back firmly. Defending himself, he described the sketch as “a very light roast joke” about the age gap between the president, who is nearly 80, and the First Lady, who is 56. “It was not by any stretch of the definition a call to assassination and they know that,” Time reported.
The feud took a dramatic new turn when federal regulators entered the picture. The Federal Communications Commission announced an expedited review of Disney’s ABC broadcast station licenses — a move drawing intense scrutiny, as it came the day after Trump publicly called for Kimmel’s firing, reported CBS News. Disney responded, saying its ABC stations are in full compliance with FCC rules and that it will defend them through “appropriate legal channels.”
Legal and free speech experts are alarmed. Katie Fallow of Columbia University’s Knight First Amendment Institute called the FCC’s timing “highly suspect.” Fallow told CBS News that it was designed to pressure Disney into changing its programming and firing Kimmel.
Not all conservatives sided with Trump. Senator Ted Cruz, according to CNN, objected to the government’s approach, stating plainly that “it’s not the government’s job to censor speech, and I do not believe the FCC should operate as the speech police.”
Meanwhile, Kimmel has refused to be silenced. Monday night’s monologue, per CNN, defending himself racked up more than four million views in under 24 hours, and Disney has shown no sign of wavering, keeping his show on air and making no move to distance itself from the host, who remains under contract through next year.
The battle between Trump and Kimmel is no longer just a celebrity spat — it has become a defining test of press freedom, government overreach, and the independence of American media.
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