The Federal Communications Commission Enforcement Bureau (FCC) has launched an investigation into Disney and ABC News, targeting alleged “DEI discrimination” within the companies. With the Trump administration now at the helm, seemingly intent on eradicating DEI from every corner of society, no one is getting a free pass. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr made this clear in a letter sent to Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger on Thursday.

“I want to ensure that Disney and ABC have not been violating FCC equal employee opportunity regulations by promoting invidious forms of DEI discrimination,” Carr wrote. His goal is to confirm that “any and all discriminatory initiatives in substance, not just in name,” have been eradicated — meaning these practices must be genuinely eliminated, not just cloaked by a new name.

Disney has made some recent tweaks, such as “shortening” warning labels about “racist stereotypes” that the company slapped on some classics such as “Aladdin” and “The Jungle Book.” Axios reported that Disney’s leadership also told employees they would replace “Diversity & Inclusion” for “Talent Strategy” to promote a stronger focus on “how values drive business success.” Carr, however, isn’t fully convinced this means the Magic Kingdom has truly changed course.

“Although your company recently made some changes to how it brands certain efforts,” he noted, “it is not clear that the underlying policies have changed in a fundamental manner.”

“Disney started out a century ago as an iconic American company,” Carr reflected. “For decades, Disney focused on churning out box office and programming successes. But then, something changed. Disney has now been embroiled in rounds of controversy surrounding its DEI policies.”

According to Carr, “Numerous reports indicate that Disney’s leadership went all in on invidious forms of DEI discrimination a few years ago and apparently did so in a manner that infected many aspects of your company’s decisions.” He singled out initiatives like “Reimagine Tomorrow” as a “mechanism for advancing its DEI mission,” alongside “racially segregated affinity groups and spaces.” Carr also highlighted ABC’s “mandatory ‘inclusion standards’ that require half of all regular and recurring characters to depict underrepresented groups and at least half of all writers, directors, crew and vendors be hired based on group identity.”

Carr further alleged, “It appears that executive bonuses may also have been tied to DEI ‘performance,’ and ABC has utilized race-based hiring databases and restricted fellowships to select demographic groups.” A Disney spokesperson, per BBC News, said the company is reviewing the letter, and that they “look forward to engaging with the commission to answer its questions.”

OutKick’s Ian Miller weighed in, writing that “Disney, like so many other corporations, turned itself into a factory of generic progressive political posturing,” and now they’re dealing “with predictably disastrous results.” The company has taken a financial hit in recent years, and Miller warned that “if the investigation finds Disney at fault,” it could face “stiff penalties for a company already struggling with financial losses from high-profile films.”

David Closson, director of Family Research Council’s Center for Biblical Worldview, shared with The Washington Stand, “The FCC, under its new chairman Brendan Carr, has made it a priority to focus on DEI and other policies deemed discriminatory.” As he explained, “This latest investigation into Disney follows similar decisions to investigate other companies, including Comcast. … Although well intended by some of its supporters,” Closson continued, “the effect of DEI initiatives has largely been instituting a form of reverse discrimination,” and “The Trump administration has made it clear that DEI and affirmative action programs are contrary to the stated intention to base hiring decision decisions on merit.”

Ultimately, Miller concluded with a straightforward take: “This really shouldn’t be that hard; hire whomever you want for the job openings you have. If you feel that your company could grow and improve with different perspectives, great, look for them. Just don’t do it by telling otherwise qualified applicants that they aren’t hirable or promotable because of their race. Progressive ideology demands it, sanity, common sense, and the law condemns it. Maybe Disney can now finally learn its lesson.”