In the wake of Stephen Colbert‘s ouster at CBS as the company was looking to secure the Skydance/Paramount by bending the knee to the Trump Administration (in the hopes the government would approve the massive merger deal with a promise of ending the late-night show), last week, we saw the pausing of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” after a right-wing alligned group that own a bunch of local affliates (owned by Nextstar and Sinclair Broadcasting) demanding the removal of the show with the backing of FCC chair Brendan Carr (who has openly threatened ABC and other networks concerning removing their broadcasting licenses in retaliation for criticizing the government) in an attempt to chill and silence critics of Donald Trump by violating the 1st Amendent under the guise of “hate speech” (now seemgingly defined by the right-wing as any negative coverage of Trump and assiocates like the late podcaster Charlie Kirk).
Now, hundreds of celebrities are putting them names to an ACLU letter (via The Hollywood Reporter) to hold ABC Network, The Walt Disney Company, and CEO Bob Iger accountable for seems like another case of a corproate entity bending the knee to the Trump Adminsitration out of fear of relatioation, rather than doing it out of a justified violation of Kimmel’s contract or the network’s policy.
UPDATE #1: Variety claims that Disney and Kimmel are in early talks to figure out how to bring the show back on the air, but cautions that there is “no agreement in sight.”
UPDATE #2: Looks like things are moving in a better direction as it’s now official (via NBC News) that “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” will be returning to the air Tuesday night, and the network suspended the late-night show last week.
“We now find ourselves in a modern McCarthy era, facing exactly the type of heavy-handed government censorship our Constitution rightfully forbids,” said Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the ACLU. “The silencing of Jimmy Kimmel and jawboning of media outlets through lawsuits and threats to their licenses evoke dark memories of the 1950s. We must remember, however, that Senator McCarthy was ultimately disgraced and neutralized once Americans mobilized and stood up to him. We must do the same today because together, our voices are louder and together, we will fight to be heard.”
Names attributed to the letter, not all, include folks such as Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, Robert De Niro, Jane Fonda, Selena Gomez, Tom Hanks, Olivia Rodrigo, Ben Stiller, Jamie Lee Curtis, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michael Keaton, Regina King, Diego Luna, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Natalie Portman, Maya Rudolph, Martin Short, and Kerry Washington.
Other prominent voices include Marvel Studios actors such as Mark Ruffalo, Tatiana Maslany, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Pedro Pascal (also a star of “The Mandalorian & Grogu” that dropped a trailer today), with some advising the public to drop their Disney+ subscriptions to send a message to the company. We’ll see if there is a bigger push to stop working with Disney altogether (like people such as Damon Lindelof have via Variety), that’s if Disney ultimately decides to fire Kimmel and end the show entirely (signs have been grim on that front).
This is taking place after Kimmel misspoke about the shooter of Kirk’s political leanings (reports have come out to refute claims of the shooter’s affiliations to leftist groups, as claimed by Trump and Republicans looking blame Democrats, no apologies on that front) and the late-night host apologized for that, but doesn’t seem to be enough for Trump and his cohorts as they’re looking to remove him entirely from ABC’s airwaves. What likely was the more triggering aspect here was Kimmel pointing out a clip when Trump was asked about Kirk’s death and his mourning, only for Trump to awkwardly pivot to talk about how much he was spending on his White House ballroom, which says more about him than Kimmel.
Creatives and talent aren’t the only people speaking up, as Iger’s predecessor and former Disney CEO Michael Eisner had shared his own brief criticism on social media with “Where has all the leadership gone? If not for university presidents, law firm managing partners, and corporate chief executives standing up against bullies, who then will step up for the First Amendment?”
Kimmel has been speaking up against Trump for more than a decade, even before he was in the political spotlight, and continuing his criticisms in his second term is not a shocking development. Comedians and journalists have long been targeted by the President, as things have escalated more recently with frivolous lawsuits (CBS stupidly settling for $16 million after a “60 Minutes” piece upset Trump for “reasons”) and government overreach threats, as they’ve opened themselves up to civil lawsuits, as the government in democracies doesn’t interfere with private companies or media coverage, given how strong free speech laws are supposed to be in the United States.
The impact has already seen folks cancel their Disney+ and Hulu subscriptions, with those losses (possibly a staggering number, we’re waiting to see what that impact is) likely becoming more drastic if Kimmel is shown the door. Iger’s stance on Kimmel sounds a little odd and cowardly after the company was able to fight off a right-wing takeover not too long ago, when some bigoted folks were outraged that Disney was making an effort at inclusion in their entertainment division, only to cave to those same people now.
If Kimmel is ultimately fired, he’ll certainly have strong legal grounds to sue everyone involved (Trump, Carr, and Iger could be named personally in a suit) in civil court for wrongful termination, damages, illegal government intervention, free speech violations, and defamation (we’ll have to see what ends up being pursued by Kimmel’s legal team).
Where has all the leadership gone? If not for university presidents, law firm managing partners, and corporate chief executives standing up against bullies, who then will step up for the first amendment? The “suspending indefinitely” of Jimmy Kimmel immediately after the…
— Michael Eisner (@Michael_Eisner) September 19, 2025
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