Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Anna Gomez supports The Walt Disney Company in their current fight against the FCC. Gomez wrote in a letter to new Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro that the company is facing “not a series of coincidental regulatory actions but a sustained, coordinated campaign of censorship and control, carried out by the weaponization of the FCC’s authority as a federal regulator and aimed at pressuring a free and independent press and all media into submission.”
Commissioner Gomez Defends Disney
Disney recently accused the FCC of violating its free speech rights in a dispute over ABC’s The View as well as moves by FCC Chair Brendan Carr to review Disney’s licenses two years early. The latter action comes after President Donald Trump demanded Disney fire Jimmy Kimmel. Multiple U.S. Senators signed a letter telling the FCC to rescind their order regarding the licenses.
Citing ABC’s $15 million settlement with President Trump over a defamation lawsuit, Gomez said, “That settlement did not buy you peace. It only bought you time. You cannot buy this administration’s favor. For the right price, you can only borrow it. And the price always goes up.”
Gomez went on to list more conflicts between Disney, the FCC, and the Trump Administration, including last year’s Kimmel controversy.
Gomez pointed out a double standard, stating the FCC is targeting ABC but not other broadcasters “operating under the exact same rules, in the same markets” despite similar actions.
She noted the FCC’s attempt at eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices, noting the FCC’s rules are limited to recruitment outreach, not a company’s internal operations, yet the FCC has demanded a full account of Disney’s diversity-related policies.
“The FCC’s attempt to usurp control over internal corporate decision-making through its limited authority requires reaching for legal power that the statute, agency rules, and the applicable case law simply do not provide,” Gomez wrote.
“Your journalists do work that matters to millions of Americans across the country, and the viewers who rose up to defend Jimmy Kimmel are the same viewers who will stand up again if this FCC follows through with its threat,” Gomez concluded. “I am encouraged to see that Disney is choosing courage over capitulation. The fight ahead may not be easy, but the law, the facts, and the public are on your side. This is a fight worth having, and one that I am confident you will win.
“I am committed to using every tool available to me as a Commissioner to shine a light on what this FCC is doing to curtail press freedom and to hold this process to account at every step.”
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