Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free
Your guide to what the 2024 US election means for Washington and the world
The US Federal Communications Commission is launching an investigation into diversity initiatives at Disney and ABC.
In a letter to Disney chief Bob Iger posted on X on Friday, FCC chair Brendan Carr said he wanted to “ensure that Disney and ABC have not been violating FCC equal employment opportunity regulations by promoting invidious forms of DEI discrimination”.
While noting reports that the company had reassessed certain programmes, “significant concerns remain”, Carr added.
“Although your company recently made some changes to how it brands certain efforts, it is not clear that the underlying policies have changed in a fundamental manner,” he said.
In February, Disney replaced diversity and inclusion as a key metric in setting executive pay with “talent strategy”, in what appeared to be a pre-emptive move against possible action from the Trump administration.
A Disney spokesman said the company was reviewing the FCC’s letter, adding that “we look forward to engaging with the commission to answer its questions”.
In December, Disney paid $15mn to Donald Trump’s presidential library to settle a defamation suit he brought against ABC. Trump had sued the network after anchor George Stephanopoulos said on air that the former president had been found “liable for rape”. A New York jury had found Trump liable in a civil case for sexual abuse, but not rape.
The settlement drew fire from media lawyers, who feared it could set a precedent that could muzzle the press.
The probe would mark the Trump administration’s latest broadside against diversity initiatives across sectors, with the US president recently issuing executive orders chiding law firms for their diversity practices.
On his first day back in the White House, Trump in January signed an executive order aimed at “ending radical and wasteful” government diversity, equity and inclusion programmes. He directed federal agency leaders to end initiatives in areas such as “equity” and “environmental justice”.
In recent weeks, the company has been in the crosshairs of conservatives over the release of Snow White, its latest live action remake of a Disney classic. Decrying “woke Disney”, they have objected to the omission of the original 1937 movie’s song “Someday My Prince Will Come” and comments by the film’s star, Rachel Zegler, that the prince “literally stalks” Snow White.
Carr has also indicated that he intends to investigate the CBS network. Trump has demanded CBS lose its license over what he claimed was deceptive editing of a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris, the Democratic opponent he defeated in the November election. But Carr has said the interview will be part of his review of the merger of Skydance and Paramount, which owns CBS.
