FCC chair Brendan Carr to face Senate grilling
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Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission Brendan Carr He will appear before the Senate Commerce committee on Wednesday to discuss his pressure on broadcasters to take ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel off the air.
Carr will appear alongside the FCC’s two other commissioners, Olivia Trusty and Anna M. Gomez. In September, Carr issued a veiled threat against ABC and Disney, suggesting the late-night host would take action over controversial comments he made about the alleged Charlie Kirk assassin.
Committee chairman Sen. Sen., R-Texas, who scheduled the hearing last month. Ted Cruz criticized Carr’s comments at the time, suggesting he spoke like an organized crime boss.
FCC CHAIRMAN STATES THREAT LEVELS TO ABC AND DISNEY AFTER KIMMEL SUGGESTED CHARLIE KIRK ASSASSIN WAS ‘MAGA’
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr tells The Wall Street Journal in a new interview that he will not hesitate to punish media publishers who engage in misconduct. (John McDonnell/Getty Images)
“Look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said. “These companies can find ways to change behavior, take action, frankly, about Kimmel or, you know, there’s going to be additional work ahead for the FCC.”
“I think it’s incredibly dangerous for the government to put itself in a position where we’re going to decide what speech we like and what we don’t like and threaten to take you off the air if we don’t like what you say,” Cruz said on his podcast.
Kimmel’s suspension for his remarks suggesting that Kirk’s alleged killer was a MAGA supporter was short-lived; it returned to the air the following week and is currently under contract with Disney until 2027.
Jimmy Kimmel, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” show host during the show on September 23, 2025. (Randy Holmes/Disney via Getty Images)
Carr gained notoriety for aligning with the Trump administration on its aggressive stance against media companies, launching investigations of ABC News, CBS News and NBC News, as well as NPR and PBS.
This is an evolving story, more to come…
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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