Hollywood Stars & Viewers Urge Mass Cancellations of Disney+ & Hulu Due To “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Suspension

Earlier this week, the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” show was indefinitely pulled from ABC’s late-night schedule following a controversial comment by the host from an episode earlier in the week regarding the murder of Charlie Kirk.

“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang 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. In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving on Friday. The White House flew the flags at half-staff, which got some criticism, but on a human level, you can see how hard the president is taking this.”

At the time, very little information about the killer had been released to the public, and this was what Jimmy Kimmel was referencing; however, that detail has often gotten lost in the media frenzy, as his comment sparked fury among those on the right.

The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Brendan Carr, appeared on Benny Johnson’s podcast and to “take action” against Disney and ABC, saying that “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”

This resulted in ABC affiliate owners, NexStar and Sinclair, announcing that they would be pulling Mr Kimmel’s show from their channels over the comments, which they called “offensive and insensitive”.

Following that pressure from the affiliates and the threat of the FCC pulling Disney’s ABC broadcast license, Disney CEO Bob Iger and Disney Television President Dana Walden, put the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” show on pause.   

The staff of the show are also continuing to be paid while the situation is being resolved as Disney and Jimmy Kimmel are said to be in talks to try to resolve the problem, but there is a lot of pressure from the affiliates for Jimmy to apologise and donate to Charlie Kirk’s family.

There is also now pressure coming from many on the left, including well-known actors, such as “She-Hulk” star Tatiana Maslany, who has been urging people to cancel their subscriptions to Disney streaming services, because Disney has caved in to the demands from the government and not stood up for free speech.

This has led to social media becoming ablaze with people saying they are unsubscribing to Disney+, Hulu and ESPN as a protest for Disney not standing up to President Trump and others.  

There have been numerous social media posts featuring people sharing screenshots of their Disney+ and Hulu cancellation confirmation emails, along with reports that the help page explaining how to cancel was down due to the high volume of requests, and the help desk was also overwhelmed with calls. 

The threat of retaliation from the FCC is one of the significant reasons why Disney has backed down, as the FCC has control over the ABC linear broadcast license and will have the final approval for the mergers of Hulu+Live TV and Fubo, along with ESPN’s acquisition of NFL Media.    

Even if Disney and Jimmy Kimmel decide to bring the show back, both Nexstar and Sinclair would have to agree in order for the show to air on their ABC affiliate channels.  But they are also currently going through major corporate mergers, which require the FCC approval, so they are likely to be unwilling to back down in order to make sure the deal goes through.

Other celebrities who have been calling for a Disney boycott include Rosie O’Donnell and Transparent star Amy Landecker.  Many other celebrities, including Pedro Pascal, Mark Ruffalo and others have also come out in support of Jimmy Kimmel’s return to television.

There has been a surge in Google searches on how to cancel Disney+ and Hulu, as well as increased interest in trips to Walt Disney World and Disney Cruises.  

The chaos has also caused Disney to make other changes, such as the release of “The Mandalorian & Grogu” trailer, which looks to have been delayed to avoid any more negative publicity.  

Disney is ultimately in between a rock and a hard place, because no matter what they do, they will upset someone.  The left wants Disney to stick up for the right of free speech, while the right thinks Jimmy Kimmel has overstepped the boundary and want him fired.

Especially President Donald Trump, who has shared openly his glee at the situation and even said Kimmel would be next following Paramount’s decision to cancel the “Stephen Colbert” show, which is also blamed on the FCC, as a condition of its recent merger with Skydance.

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

However, there have also been many voices on the right, such as Senator Ted Cruz, who have warned that the FCC commissioner acting like a mobster by threatening media companies isn’t good, as it could later be used as a weapon against the Republicans when the Democrats get into power again. 

Another major problem for the return of the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” show is that Jimmy’s contract expires in 2026, and with fewer people watching his show on traditional television, there has been a lot of speculation that the show would end anyway.  So it could be possible that Disney follow Paramount’s path in bringing the show back, but with an end date in place.  

Roger’s Take: Following the reaction to Disney’s previous battle with Repubclians over the “Don’t Say Gay” bill a few years ago, it’s not hard to see why Disney is trying to keep on the good side of the government, especially with many more years until the next election and having their business threatened unless they comply to the FCC’s demands. 

But there is also a massive swell of unhappiness from people who aren’t happy that Disney seems to be unwilling to stand up against the government for its right to free speech.    Many people are letting Disney know with their wallets by unsubscribing.  However, I also feel that many people are posting on social media who are stirring up the situation, and they probably have no intention of cancelling.   Just judging by the random comments about Jimmy Kimmel on all of my social media posts over the past few days, Disney will struggle to get this situation resolved. 

I also have no doubt Disney will run a very heavily discounted promotion for the Disney+ & Hulu bundle for Black Friday to encourage a massive number of subscribers back, just in time for the following quarterly financial results.   

No matter what happens, Disney PR will undoubtedly be working long hours this weekend to devise a strategy to appease everyone, which may not be possible.

What do you think of this situation?  Let me know on social media!