By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Democratic leaders in the U.S. House on Thursday called on the chair of the Federal Communications Commission to resign after he pressured Walt Disney and ABC affiliates to stop airing “Jimmy Kimmel Live” after the late-night show host made comments about Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and other leaders said Carr has “disgraced the office he holds by bullying ABC, the employer of Jimmy Kimmel, and forcing the company to bend the knee to the Trump administration.” In March, congressional Democrats sought documents from Carr as part of a probe into what they called “sham” investigations into media outlets including CBS, Comcast-owned NBC and ABC to try to intimidate the news media.
Carr did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On Wednesday Carr urged local broadcasters to stop airing “Jimmy Kimmel Live” on ABC. Carr suggested the commission could open an investigation and that broadcasters could potentially be fined or lose their licenses if there was a pattern of distorted comments citing the public interest standard.
“This is a very, very serious issue right now for Disney. We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said in a podcast interview that aired Wednesday.
Carr’s comments were widely denounced by Democrats in Congress.
“Disney needs to see some change here, but the individual licensed stations that are taking their content, it’s time for them to step up and say this, you know, garbage to the extent that that’s what comes down the pipe in the future isn’t something that we think serves the needs of our local communities.”
After Carr spoke, Nexstar Media Group said it would stop airing the show on its 32 ABC affiliates, citing Kimmel’s comments. Nexstar, which needs FCC approval for its $6.2 billion deal to acquire smaller rival Tegna, drew praise from Carr, who thanked Nexstar for “doing the right thing.”
When reviewing licenses the FCC must determine if a renewal is in the public interest. Courts have held that a station exercising its First Amendment rights is not adequate grounds to challenge a license. The FCC notes it has long held that “the public interest is best served by permitting free expression of views.”
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Franklin Paul)
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