Comcast and Time Warner Cable were planning to spend $132,000 to sponsor a dinner honoring FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn but are now redirecting the donations after accusations that the companies are trying to curry favor with Clyburn during the FCC's review of Comcast's proposed $45.2 billion acquisition of TWC.

Comcast was going to be a "presenting sponsor" with a $110,000 donation for next month's annual dinner of the Walter Kaitz Foundation, which seeks to "advance the contributions of women and multi-ethnic professionals in cable." TWC paid $22,000 for the event.

The dinner's previous honorees include Comcast itself, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts, and Roberts' father, Comcast founder Ralph Roberts. Time Warner Cable and three of its employees have also been honored at previous fêtes. The annual dinners have raised $35 million, including $1.75 million last year. Kaitz uses that money to make grants to other organizations that promote diversity.

Earlier this week, Comcast said it was "insulting" to suggest that the donation was motivated by anything other than altruism, telling Politico, "We have supported the organization year in and year out regardless of who the dinner honorees have been.”

But the company informed the Kaitz Foundation yesterday that it is withdrawing its contribution to the dinner and is instead making an "unrestricted contribution" of $110,000 to the foundation. "We have great respect and admiration for FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn and for the Kaitz Foundation and its work," Comcast VP of Community Investment Charisse Lillie wrote. "We do not want either the Commissioner or Kaitz to fall under a shadow as a result of our support for diversity in the cable industry, which is why we are withdrawing our support for the dinner."

TWC has also redirected its donation to the foundation's other programs, Politico reported.

A group called Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington had criticized the donations, saying that "using honorary contributions to lawmakers and regulators’ favored charities to curry favor is one of the more under the radar moves in Comcast’s merger playbook—a playbook that also emphasizes lobbying, campaign contributions, and winning support from third-party groups, especially those representing minorities."

Comcast's Political Action Committee has also given prolifically to members of Congress, including those scrutinizing the merger with TWC.

Comcast VP of Government Communications Sena Fitzmaurice told Ars today that the Kaitz Foundation, founded in 1981, is "the cable industry umbrella diversity organization" and that Comcast has supported it for decades.

"We've given at the highest level for several years," Fitzmaurice wrote in an e-mail. "We are the industry leader—in our size and in our commitment to diversity—and it is important that we reflect that in our financial support of the Kaitz Foundation. As the industry has consolidated over time, especially after we became the largest operator in 2003, and then again with acquiring NBCUniversal in 2011, we’ve taken a larger role in giving to Kaitz."

This year's contribution of $110,000 was to be split between Comcast itself and its subsidiary, NBCUniversal, according to Fitzmaurice. Last year, Comcast gave a total of $140,000 to the dinner, including $50,000 from Comcast itself and $90,000 from NBCUniversal.

Comcast provided this chart of its previous donations:

NBC ended up paying more than its parent company in previous years to purchase extra tables to accommodate its employees, Fitzmaurice said.