isney stars have called for their fans to cut their subscription to Disney-owned streaming services in protest of the company’s decision to indefinitely suspend late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel.
Newsweek reached out to The Walt Disney Company by email on Friday afternoon for comment.
Why It Matters
Conservative activist Charlie Kirk was fatally shot during a question-and-answer session on the Utah Valley University (UVU) campus in Orem, Utah, on September 10. He collapsed, was rushed to a local hospital, and was later pronounced dead.
Kirk was one of America’s most prominent conservative commentators and a close political ally of President Donald Trump.
Kimmel, during his monologue on Monday evening, said that “many in MAGA land” were trying to “characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them … doing everything they can to score political points from it.”
Carr, a Trump appointee, said Kimmel made comments that were “appearing to directly mislead the American public.” ABC, which broadcasts Jimmy Kimmel Live! then on Tuesday announced that it had indefinitely suspended the program.
What To Know
The suspension of the show has been met with condemnation and praise from both sides of the political spectrum, but boycott calls have grown after ABC announced it would indefinitely suspend Jimmy Kimmel Live!
An initial protest on social media called for subscribers of Disney’s streaming platforms and services to cancel them outright. The protests have gained momentum and appear to have earned the backing of some surprising figures.
Tatiana Maslany, lead actress of the Disney+ exclusive Marvel show She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, urged her viewers to cancel subscriptions to not only the baseline platform but also Hulu and ESPN, which Disney owns.
She posted the message along with a behind-the-scenes photo of her wearing a motion capture suit while filming She-Hulk.
And she’s not the only high-profile actor under Disney’s employ to call for a boycott: Marisa Tomei, who plays Peter Parker’s Aunt May in the Marvel Cinematic Universe Spider-Man films, reposted an image calling for a boycott of all Disney platforms and subsidiaries to her story on Instagram on Thursday, according to WCNC Charlotte.
Calls for Boycotting ABC, Disney Grow Following Jimmy Kimmel’s Suspension
The suspension drew immediate condemnation from two major Hollywood guilds—the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) and the Writers Guild of America (WGA), both of which issued statements over the past week.
Protesters have also gathered outside the Disney Studio in Burbank, California, over the course of the week, with demonstrators telling news media that they have canceled their Disney streaming subscriptions in protest against the decision to suspend Kimmel.
Actor Jake Ferree, who participated in the protest outside the studio, told CNN, “This affects every aspect of free speech. We should be able to express ourselves. That’s the point of art.”
What People Are Saying
SAG-AFTRA in a statement issued earlier this week: “SAG-AFTRA condemns the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! Our society depends on freedom of expression. Suppression of free speech and retaliation for speaking out on significant issues of public concern run counter to the fundamental rights we all rely on.
“Democracy thrives when diverse points of view are expressed. The decision to suspend airing Jimmy Kimmel Live! is the type of suppression and retaliation that endangers everyone’s freedoms. SAG-AFTRA stands with all media artists and defends their right to express their diverse points of view, and everyone’s right to hear them,” the group wrote.
The Writer’s Guild of America wrote in a statement earlier this week, in part: “The right to speak our minds and to disagree with each other – to disturb, even – is at the very heart of what it means to be a free people. It is not to be denied. Not by violence, not by the abuse of governmental power, nor by acts of corporate cowardice.
“As a Guild, we stand united in opposition to anyone who uses their power and influence to silence the voices of writers, or anyone who speaks in dissent. If free speech applied only to ideas we like, we needn’t have bothered to write it into the Constitution. What we have signed on to – painful as it may be at times – is the freeing agreement to disagree.”
President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social: “Great News for America: The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED. Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done. Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that’s possible. That leaves Jimmy and Seth, two total losers, on Fake News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!! President DJT.”
