ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel last Wednesday for saying this on-air: “The MAGA gang [are] desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.” Reportedly, there have been conversations all up and down ABC leadership and Kimmel. Every report emphasizes that Disney CEO Bob Iger made the call to suspend Kimmel’s show indefinitely. While everyone is rightly concerned about the First Amendment issues, part of me wonders if, from a corporate perspective, Iger was simply trying to cool the temperature – sort of “let’s hit pause and see where we are in a week when everyone has cooled down.” Maybe I’m giving Iger too much credit though – reportedly, both sides (ABC and Kimmel) are talking and discussions are “ongoing” as of this writing. Well, Disney’s former CEO Michael Eisner has some thoughts about Iger’s (lack of) leadership in this moment:
Michael Eisner, the former Disney CEO who exited the company 20 years ago, criticized the senior leaders of his former employer — and, implicitly, current chief Bob Iger — over ABC’s suspending Jimmy Kimmel‘s late-night show “indefinitely.”
“Where has all the leadership gone?” Eisner wrote Friday in a post on X. “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 Chairman of the FCC’s aggressive yet hollow threatening of the Disney Company is yet another example of out-of-control intimidation. Maybe the Constitution should have said, ‘Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, except in one’s political or financial self-interest.’ By-the-way, for the record, this ex-CEO finds Jimmy Kimmel very talented and funny.”
The kids won’t know this, but it’s actually a pretty big deal that Eisner spoke up. Eisner’s tenure at Disney was legendary, and his time as Disney CEO saw the company being built into a modern multiplatform cultural empire. Would Eisner have made different choices in Iger’s position? Possibly.
What else? There’s been a lot of reaction from celebrities, Democrats and Hollywood types. I wasn’t expecting this, but Ted Cruz spoke up in defense of Kimmel and the First Amendment. Cruz said that FCC commissioner’s threats to ABC were “dangerous as hell” and “right out of Goodfellas.” Several major Disney-associated directors and stars have spoken up as well:
Within 48 hours of its decision to pull late-night host Jimmy Kimmel off the air indefinitely, the parent company of ABC has once again found itself at the center of a bitter political battle. The company now faces protests outside its studios, celebrities threatening to break ties and political pressure from Republicans and Democrats.
The blowback has been swift. Damon Lindelof, creator of ABC’s “Lost,” said in an Instagram post on Thursday that he would not work with the company if Kimmel’s suspension was not lifted. The Emmy-winning showrunner has a long-standing relationship with the studio, having worked with them on “Lost” for six seasons from 2004 to 2010.
Tatiana Maslany, who starred in Marvel’s “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law,” which aired its first and only season on Disney+ in 2022, posted a call to her followers on Instagram to “cancel your @disneyplus @hulu @espn subscriptions!”
There was a seemingly organic response to Kimmel’s suspension: people really did cancel their Disney/Hulu subscription. At a steady clip too – I’ve seen some evidence on social media that the mass subscription cancellations are scaring the sh-t out of Disney. Remember that Disney also owns ESPN and ESPN+ too – I’m reminding myself to cancel my subscription (which I only use for tennis). Sinclair owns Tennis Channel, so if you have Tennis Channel Plus, cancel or unsubscribe.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- Jimmy Kimmel hosts the live ABC telecast of the 95th Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 12, 2023.,Image: 762329065, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: LCY / Avalon
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- Host Jimmy Kimmel on stage during the live ABC telecast of the 95th Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 12, 2023.,Image: 762344491, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Blaine Ohigashi / Avalon
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- Bob Iger, Willow Bay arrive on the red carpet of the 97th Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 2, 2025.,Image: 971235147, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** EDITORIAL USE ONLY! * NB: Fees charged by Avalon are for Avalon’s services only, and do not, nor are they intended to, convey to the user any ownership of Copyright or License in the material. Avalon does not claim any ownership including but not limited to Copyright or License in the attached material. By publishing this material you (the user) expressly agree to indemnify and to hold Avalon and its directors, shareholders and employees harmless from any loss, claims, damages, demands, expenses (including legal fees), or any causes of action or allegation against Avalon arising out of or connected in any way with publication of the material. * Handling Fee Only ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red/Avalon
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- CANNES, France on 18. MAY 2023; Bob Iger attends the "Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny" red carpet during the 76th annual Cannes film festival at Palais des Festivals on May 18, 2023 in Cannes, France., picture and copyright Thierry CARPICO / ATP images,Image: 975637903, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Not available for publication in Germany or France, Model Release: no, Pictured: CANNES FILM FESTIVAL 2023, Credit line: ATP/Wenn/Avalon
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- HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA – AUGUST 18: American businessman and former chairman and chief executive officer of the Walt Disney Company Michael Eisner (Michael Dammann Eisner) arrives at the Los Angeles Special Screening Of Netflix’s ‘Long Story Short’ Season 1 held at the Netflix Tudum Theater on August 18, 2025 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States.,Image: 1030232529, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Michael Eisner, Credit line: Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon
Cancelled my subscription. This boycott is world wide too. This is the second time ABC/Disney have bent the knee to the regime, who’s next? Hopefully other media companies will learn from this.
I saw where the page in which you can cancel had crashed and Disney saw their stock plummeting. As I have said, we can protest with our wallets. Target is still struggling with decreased foot traffic in their stores despite the back to school sales.
I saw a blurb saying that Disney lost 4B in the stock tumble. *I’m cackling while writing that*
disney stock dropped by 2 percent, a normal market fluctuation, so not significant.
Disney doesn’t report subscriptions so there’s no knowing the total.
these resulting subscription number drops and financial impact statements are all click-bait.
cancelling cruises and park visits or memberships will have the most impact.
deleting the apps will help as well and giving them a one- star rating.
i am deleting paramount’s app due to colbert’s cancellation.
I bet former CEO Michael Eisner has a ton of Disney stock and he saw its worth crash. He was the CEO that really built it into the empire it is now. Bob Iger should be axed for this.
We’re based in the U.K. but we’ve cancelled our Disney+ subscription over this. It’s ridiculous – if a company as large and as rich as Disney doesn’t show some resistance, how can anyone else be expected to?
Canadian, and we cancelled too.
Canadian and we cancelled too. And told them exactly why.
I just cancelled my subscription. Told the I can’t support an organization that has taken a knee to the one in the white house.
Yes, in a non-voting year, this is the way to vote. And as the Supreme Court has ruled “money enables speech.”
This is my time to remind everyone that there are off-year elections November 4th – Republican running for dog-catcher? Vote ’em out!
Example: My family in Virginia just went to Election Office to early-vote Governor “Icky” Youngkin out!
Yes, we have municipal elections coming up in Massachusetts. Municipal elections here are non-partisan, so you won’t know if a candidate is registered as a Republican unless you find out by other means. But here in Boston only about 4 to 5% of registered voters are Republican – we have other things we’re fighting about.
We cancelled our Disney Plus subscription and are going to donate for a PBS Passport instead. And, our local library has a streaming service so we can watch science documentaries.
We canceled our renewal too but I didn’t think about PBS passport! I am going to subscribe now!
I canceled my Disney + immediately,and donated to PBS too!
We canceled Disney+ with only a few days left before renewal so my kids are mainlining Bluey this weekend before it goes away lol. I’m annoyed that I’m going to miss Abbott Elementary, we do have an antenna to watch it old school style but I’m usually busy and end up catching it on Hulu instead.
We have a dvr which I hadn’t used in years but I do now!
I will miss Abbott elementary too! First thing I thought of.
I canceled mine with 10 days left. Since they don’t automatically give you a pro-rated refund, I had to contact them to tell them my cancelation was effective immediately and ask for a pro-rated refund which gave me an additional opportunity to reiterate my disgust that they’re supporting fascism
Your local library probably has Bluey on DVD
Hulu is owned by Disney. So if you’re cancelling, you should cancel that as well. I’m also bummed about not watching some ABC content, but you can look on YouTube as they often have random people posting episodes of your favorite shows without Disney getting hits on the streaming…
Cancelled Hulu. Won’t watch another Disney-associated property, including MCU. I have never watched an episode of Jimmy Kimmel. Don’t care what Iger’s excuse is. Line in the sand. If not now, when?
Mark Ruffalo also came out in favor of the boycott, as did the actress from She Hulk.
Cancelled our Disney +. My kids are obsessed with K Pop Demon Hunters anyway. We don’t have ESPN because in Canada we subscribe to TSN and SportsNet. Americans can subscribe to these by obtaining a Canadian VPN. SportsNer shows lots of sports, but TSN has a real Canadian focus so if you’re a Jay’s fan then come on over to our place!
Agree that cancelling subs is the only thing they’ll care about. No offense to the guy from Lost, but if they are willing to cancel arguably one of their biggest current stars, being called out on social media by the guy who created a show that ended 15 yrs ago doesn’t seem that relevant.
@backyard mogul agree on the importance of consumer activism across all aspects of the economy. Cancel the tech broligarchs too. And every voice counts during a movement for change and if the guy from lost 15 years ago isn’t going to exercise free speech now, while he still has it, then when…? Movements build power by calling in, always love this video. https://www.ted.com/talks/derek_sivers_how_to_start_a_movement?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare
Lindelof has done a ton of big projects since Lost. I feel like creators and talent speaking out is really important.
if they struggle to get the good creators to work with them and even some actors push back, then they could be stuck with the crap produced by the likes of Ben Shapiro & Kirk Cameron which may play to the fundagelicals but won’t be blockbusters producing a lot of additional revenue. I suspect that if the really good, high ratings bonanza stuff goes to streamers that won’t capitulate to the administration, that Trump will just ruin Hollywood and limit our access to anything he can’t regulate to his satisfaction (of course that may be what gets the non fundagelical MAGA folks to revolt because I can’t see them enjoying nothing but the media produced my Roseanne Barr, Rob Schneider, and even the stuff Mel Gibson has been putting out)
I have no trouble cancelling Disney and Hulu but my husband watches a lot of sports and he’s really resisting cancelling his ESPN extras. He and his brother are literally having a conference call this afternoon to discuss how to proceed. They have friends who won’t cancel and they know going to their houses to watch games and tournaments is an option, but is that cheating?
Anyway, I’m so glad they are getting cancelled en masse for what they did to JK. F**k these greedy forelock-tugging f**kers.
Have them boycott the advertisers instead, then. I’ve seen commentary suggesting that doing so may be more effective because these companies don’t always care about losing subscribers, but they will absolutely freak out over the loss of their advertising dollars.
Obviously they’ll need to communicate the boycott to the advertisers, which is a bit more effort, but 🤷🏾♀️
That’s a great idea about the advertisers. I already cancelled and I’m going to add that too. I’m angry about this constant capitulation. And Trump and his admin are “give an inch, take a mile” types. No honor among thieves…or blackmailers.
Boycotting advertisers is indeed very effective!
Apparently the way to make it evident is to take screenshots of the advertisers and post to social media (get the hashtags going etc) that you are boycotting Disney/Hulu/Sinclair supporters for violating 1A – that helps with making sure the boycott is visible and advertisers understand they are also embroiled in this mess by their complicity.
Is there a link or site to find out who all are the advertisers? I don’t have Disney/hulu but I’ve used my sister’s account in the past. Which I won’t now. She’s got a 9 year old though who watches a lot on the site so she’s not cancelling. But the advertisers is something I could do.
@jais – it might be difficult. Many major companies advertise on Disney/Hulu – Walmart, Target, P&G, Verizon, Google, Coke, Starbucks, car companies, insurance and finance, UPS. Also, Amazon and Disney are affiliated on many levels. A boycott of Disney/Hulu seems to be the most direct action.
You can pause the subscription, which I did, “indefinitely.” I want to subscribe again, and I’m sure I will, but I want Disney to do the right thing first. You could also have your husband and any like-minded sports fans go to one person’s house to watch games, while the others pause their accounts. That gets the financial message across.
I wish I had Disney and Hula just so I could cancel! Protest in every way one can. It’s vital to democracy world wide.
Sinclair and Nextstar own a ton of our local tv stations, the CEO of Sinclair is Maga and was threatening ABC/Disney to pull its affiliate money over Kimmel. The affiliate $$ is HUGE, far more than it earns from advertising.
If your local tv station is owned by Sinclair or Nexstar, watch it to find who is advertising, then let those companies know you’ll not purchase from them over their support of tv stations involved in this.
And stop watching ABC. CBS too for that matter.
It was reported that Sinclair had proposed certain demands of Kimmel in order to remove the suspension: a formal on-air apology, another sincere personal apology to Kirk’s wife & children along with a sizeable donation to TPUSA. They were truly looking for their pound of fle$h.
I can’t include the Bluesky link, but someone there provided Sinclair’s interactive US map where the public could see if they owned affiliate stations in their city.
Ted Cruz spoke out only because he (correctly) realized that the Dems can and will restrict GOP/MAGA speech when they are in charge again(assuming we still have elections).
Fox News puts complete lies on their network, so it would t be hard for Dems to shut down a lot of people like Watters.
The bottom line is where they hurt the most.
“…if, from a corporate perspective, Iger was simply trying to cool the temperature – sort of “let’s hit pause and see where we are in a week when everyone has cooled down.” ‘ That’s called cowardice.
I pay annually for Disney+ so we have some time but I did warn my kids that it might be coming.
I honestly am starting to believe that every time the regime does something super fascistic they elect one of the goons to come out and speak against it. And then everybody reports on this one person’s comments as though it means there’s some sort of pushback within the GOP when it never, ever does and there never, ever is. This time it’s Cruz. This technique has worked for them beautifully for 10 long years. It allows the regime to continue crushing and destroying our democracy at a record clip while providing plausible deniability that it isn’t an organized takeover of our government. In the case of Cruz, this gives him a sound bite for his campaign where he can deny Republicans were lockstep with Trump as he dismantled our government and destroyed free speech. In the end though, remarks like Cruz’–and the myriad of other times the fascists have used this technique of decrying the behavior of the regime while doing exactly NOTHING to stop it–are merely performative.
“Controlled opposition”.
Interesting take. Lying turd cruz is a snake and doesn’t give 2 flips about our rights. I saw him in an interview a few years ago, saying repubs should only nominate right-wing nut jobs for the Supreme court, nobody else should be considered, so they can stack the court with partisan hacks to push through their evil agenda. And that’s exactly what happened.
What must freak them out are the Disney adults joining in. A whole part of the Disney adult ethos is that you are supporting a good business. The. right threatens boycotts. The left brings Target to its knees. There was a TikTok of a woman with a wall of Mouse ears behind her encouraging viewers to boycott the parks and cruises and read On Tyranny. Another woman was cancelling her $150,000 Disney wedding. That in itself will freak execs out. And people were already pissed about Disney making people pay more for decent treatment. They may have really broken the business, especiall if this goes worldwide.
I was unable to cancel my Hulu/Disney+/HBOMax bundle on the website because it kept crashing. I finally just called Hulu’s customer service dept and cancelled it and told them why. These billionaire companies need to learn to respect the consumer and our dollars more than the wannabe Dicktator. One would have thought that they would have learned from Target and the many nationwide protests held (and ongoing) since the election but I guess not.
Cancelled Disney+(w/Hulu/ESPN) and Paramount.
This next.
Copied and pasted from Dan Satterfield:
“Ok, I keep getting asked about how to complain about Kimmel.
The best way to complain that will have the biggest impact?
See if you have a Sinclair or nexstar station in your area.
2. Watch the local newscast tonight or some time this week.
3. Note the companies that bought tv adverts.
4. Call them and let them know you will boycott them until they quit supporting that media company.
Trust me. I worked in tv for 45 years.
Nothing you do will have greater impact.
Nothing.”
Thank you for this info. I’m trying to look it up and only see stations in the Augusta. Macon and Albany GA area, not so much Atlanta. But I’m still researching.
A post on BlueSky confirms directing focus to affiliate station advertisers:
“You want to take Nexstar down? Cool, I do, too. Go after their local advertisers, please!
We’re a hub, we make money off local commercial spots”
I canceled mine. I was pre payed for a year and it was due in November so I stopped renewal
I have read accounts of 1950s blacklisting on Hollywood and how many talented people through out the industry who had their careers ruined. I never want to see that happen again. I don’t have a Disney subscription to cancel but I won’t watch any of their new releases at the cinema. I am glad the big guns are supporting free speech because Jimmy Kimmel and his team should be reinstated!
under a reasonable administration Disney/ABC could push back on Sinclair & Nexstar about significant disruption of network broadcast (if they get away with this once, they won’t stop at controlling one personality or show on a network) and sue them for breach of contract threatening not to renew the contract to be an ABC local affiliate and contract with another local station. Unfortunately, even if there was another local station that would be happy to become a replacement ABC affiliate, the FCC would have to approve that and the issue is that the FCC is the one that’s really giving the RW media conglomerates the go ahead (as well as adding pressure for them to do so).
I’m Canadian & I’ve been quietly un-coupling from America since January. Amazon prime – cancelled. Vacations to US – cancelled. Food – anywhere but America (except celery because we don’t grow it here & it’s From California … so my own version of harm reduction). Alcohol – Canadian. We have a large household with adult children who we support – they have also had their subscriptions cancelled. I’ll miss Disney (we were also a family that went yearly & stayed on property) and Disney + (Andor!!!) but for now it is farewell.
I am hopeful for your mid term elections – but there is a dangerous untangling with western society norms and ideas that I find repugnant on the MAGA side.
Ew.
Also not buying American since the 51st state talk. I was faltering a month or so ago (my shea moisture hair products and almond flour were running low) but then I saw how much money the Trump administration made from tarrifs this year and I was all the way back in. ABA – anything but American.
My 3 favorite shows are The Simpsons, Futurama, and Bob’s Burgers (yeah, my mom thinks it’s weird), The Mouse owns The Simpsons and the other 2 are on Hulu, with new content still being created for Futurama! I was like noooooooooooo…I sent an email to ABC that actually included “you guys suck”, and reminded them that at least half of U.S. citizens who bothered to vote did not vote for King Diaper and WILL NEVER FORGET THIS…And when I was pricing Bob’s Burgers DVDs, they were all about sold out, I think so many people feel the same way…I live in a smallish market, with 2 stations – ABC/CBS run by Nextar and NBC/FOX by Sinclair, so good times 🙄