Let's imagine what it's like to be Josh D'Amaro right now.
You became the CEO of Disney about six weeks ago. You don't want to be a political actor. But President Trump's bullying is forcing you into a First Amendment fight you never asked for.
You know it's not a coincidence that the FCC is challenging your ABC broadcast licenses just as Trump is demanding you fire Jimmy Kimmel over a joke.
You might not have liked the joke. You might have thought it was tasteless. But it doesn't really matter now.
You know that your American employee base — which, it's safe to say, is at least as anti-Trump as the overall US population — is watching every move Disney does or doesn't make.
You know your legal case to defend the stations is strong. After all, Trump has been retributively threatening your licenses for years. It's a wonder Brendan Carr didn't do this sooner.
You know you can afford the legal bills. But you might still question whether a prolonged fight is in the company's best interests overall, since broadcast assets are declining in the digital, streaming age.
You might feel like you're in a no-win situation. Every option carries costs.
You know that Disney's December 2024 settlement with Trump — which was justified as a strategic move to avoid an unpredictable trial — has not aged well.
You hear people like Sen. Adam Schiff say that the payoff didn't buy Disney any peace. "This," Schiff said yesterday, "should be a lesson to all who capitulate to the president: You cannot buy his favor, you can only rent it."
You know that last September, the messy response to the first Kimmelgate did some damage to the brand.
You know that getting out of the Kimmel business, or the station business altogether, would risk even worse brand damage.
But you also recognize that keeping Kimmel on the air amid right-wing outrage is also really uncomfortable. You don't like seeing Disney's logo on screen during TV segments about a Trump attack. You don't want protesters outside Disneyland again.
You know that Disney has all sorts of business before the US government. (Good thing you got that ESPN/NFL deal through the Justice Department already.)
At the same time, Disney's corporate interests span the globe just like your cruise ships. And Trump remains deeply unpopular abroad.
You, even more than most CEOs, want to sell products that appeal across the political spectrum and around the world. You have no interest in alienating anyone.
But you know that Trump thrives on forcing institutions into public loyalty tests and threatening to punish those who fail.
You know that most Americans don't want the heavy hand of government to control what's on television or what jokes a comedian can tell.
You know that this threat to free speech is an issue that unites liberals and libertarians. Today's Washington Post editorial board notes that "the market was working fine before the president's intervention."
You also know that Trump tends to move on to a new target every day. You remember that he threatened to sue ABC for putting Kimmel back on air last fall — but never followed through.
So you know this immediate heat will dissipate, but could erupt again at any time.
You see that MAGA media is scrutinizing not just Kimmel, but "The View," too. The FCC has an open investigation into the talk show, purportedly over "equal time" rule violations, just in time for the midterms.
You hear that staffers in your ABC News division are watching all of this closely, fearing this will have a chilling effect on editorial decision-making, from news segments to "View" bookings.
You know that history will judge the decisions that are made in this moment.
You know you don't want to regret how you acted 10 or 20 years from now.
And if Disney doesn't draw the line here, who will?
