Disney and ABC Facing FCC Inquiry Regarding DEI Policies

March 29, 2025 TruthUSA

The FCC indicated that an inclusion standard at ABC mandated that 50 percent of regular or recurring characters appearing on its network must come from ‘underrepresented groups.’

Brendan Carr, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), has initiated an investigation into Disney’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies to determine if they could be deemed discriminatory, either racially or otherwise.

“I have directed the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau to launch an inquiry into Disney and ABC,” Carr stated in a letter dated March 27 to Disney CEO Robert Iger. “Specifically, I wish to confirm that Disney and ABC have not breached FCC equal employment opportunity regulations by endorsing discriminatory DEI practices.” The ABC media brand is owned by Disney.

“In recent years, Disney has prioritized DEI within its business operations, implementing explicit race- and gender-based criteria,” the letter stated, noting that public reports “depict a troubling narrative concerning Disney’s DEI practices.”

The company introduced a “Reimagine Tomorrow” initiative aimed at promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion, as indicated in the letter. The initiative sought to “amplify underrepresented voices.”

Disney implemented “inclusion standards” across ABC, requiring that 50 percent of recurring and regular characters in its productions, like television series, be drawn from “underrepresented groups,” according to the letter.

“These standards may have imposed racial and identity quotas at every production level—necessitating that ‘50 percent or more’ of writers, directors, crew, and vendors be selected based on group identity.”

ABC has limited fellowships to specific demographic identities, utilized race-based hiring databases, and potentially tied executive bonuses to their DEI performance, according to the FCC chairman’s remarks.

The letter reminded Disney that FCC regulations and the Communications Act forbid regulated entities like the ABC network from discriminating against individuals based on color, race, gender, age, national origin, or religion.

The FCC’s equal employment opportunity regulations outline specific obligations that Disney entities must adhere to strictly.

“While your company has recently modified how it brands certain initiatives, it remains unclear if the underlying policies have fundamentally changed—nor if past practices complied with relevant FCC regulations.”

“I intend to ensure that Disney ceases any and all discriminatory initiatives in practice, not merely in name,” asserted the FCC chairman. Moreover, “I aim to determine whether Disney’s actions—whether ongoing or recently concluded—complied consistently with applicable FCC standards.”

In a statement sent to The Epoch Times, a Disney representative remarked, “We are assessing the Federal Communications Commission’s letter, and we look forward to engaging with the commission to address its inquiries.”

The Epoch Times also reached out to ABC for a response.

Addressing DEI

The letter from the FCC highlighted President Donald Trump’s initiative to terminate DEI programs across the federal government.

“At my guidance, the FCC has already acted to eliminate its own promotion of DEI. I am pleased to note that some regulated entities have begun to take steps to eliminate discriminatory DEI policies,” Carr stated.

Numerous large corporations including Ford, McDonald’s, John Deere, Walmart, Nissan, Toyota, and Molson Coors have taken steps to cancel or reduce DEI initiatives.

Recently, Citibank announced it would scale back its employment diversity initiatives, in light of changes in government policy. “We will no longer have aspirational representation goals unless mandated by local laws,” the bank stated.

Earlier this January, a representative for Meta, the parent company of Facebook, informed The Epoch Times it was discontinuing DEI initiatives in hiring, development, and procurement.

One of the presidential actions, signed by Trump on January 20, aimed to eliminate “radical and wasteful government DEI programs and preferencing.”

Another presidential order sought to put an end to “illegal discrimination and restore merit-based opportunities.”

Major companies and other organizations were adopting and utilizing “dangerous, demeaning, and immoral race- and sex-based preferences masquerading as ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ (DEI) or ‘diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility’ (DEIA) that could infringe upon the civil rights laws of this nation,” the order stated.

Nevertheless, these actions have encountered legal obstacles. Recently, a federal judge halted the U.S. Labor Department from enforcing various aspects of Trump’s anti-DEI regulations aimed at federal contractors and grant recipients for a two-week period.

The administration has been pushing forward with its effort to clamp down on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives across multiple sectors.

This month, Trump signed a memo to eliminate DEI policies from foreign service roles. He also issued an executive order this week targeting the removal of “improper, divisive, or anti-American ideologies” from facilities managed by the Smithsonian Institution.

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