Disney Kimmel suspension

Disney is under siege from all sides.

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.

Kimmel’s removal came Wednesday after he commented on Charlie Kirk’s killing. ABC’s decision has further amplified a free speech debate that began in the immediate aftermath of Kirk’s assassination, with some on the left claiming that people on the right were engaging in the “cancel culture” they once said they loathed. Others on the right sought to dub Kimmel’s removal as “consequence culture.”

A spokesperson for Disney did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.

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!”

Many of those in President Donald Trump’s camp, including Trump himself, are not backing down. Trump on Thursday posted to Truth Social a clip of Kimmel at the Academy Awards reading out a real-time critique from Trump on his hosting, adding: “He made a total FOOL of himself, his wife and agent begging him not to do it, while also proving to be one of the Worst Hosts in the History of the Academy Awards.”

Some other well-followed media personalities saw Disney’s move as a reasonable response to what Kimmel said. Dave Portnoy, the founder of Barstool Sports who has at times been critical of Trump, posted on X that the suspension was not an example of cancel culture.

“That is consequences for your actions,” he wrote.

Vice President JD Vance on Friday afternoon offered a fresh barb at Kimmel and downplayed free speech concerns.

“Jimmy Kimmel wasn’t funny, his ratings were in the toilet, and his advertisers were revolting,” Vance posted on X. “Also the bellyaching from the left over ‘free speech’ after the Biden years fools precisely no one.”

The news that Kimmel’s show would be removed from the airwaves came on Wednesday evening, two days after the late-night host criticized some for how they responded to Kirk’s killing. Text messages from suspect Tyler Robinson, released Tuesday by authorities, allegedly said he targeted Kirk because Robinson “had enough of his hatred.”

“The MAGA gang [is] 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,” Kimmel said during the Monday broadcast.

The move to “indefinitely” pre-empt Kimmel’s show came hours after Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr threatened to “take action” against both Disney and ABC over the comments, including threats to pull ABC affiliate licenses.

Nexstar Media Group Inc. — which has more than 200 stations in the United States and is waiting on FCC approval for a $6.2 billion acquisition of smaller, rival TV company Tegna — said it was pulling “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” for the foreseeable future, starting Wednesday night.

Since then, many actors, writers and comedians have voiced and continue to voice their support for Kimmel. Outside Disney’s studios in Burbank, California, hundreds of people took part Thursday in a protest led by the Writers Guild of America and co-organized with the group Burbank Against ICE.

On Friday, Michael Eisner, the ex-CEO of Disney, appeared to criticize his former company.

“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?,” Eisner wrote on X, calling Carr’s actions “yet another example of out-of-control intimidation.”

In a series of posts on X, Carr has maintained that the decision stemmed from local stations making “programming decisions” that are “responsive to the local communities they serve” — something he claims Kimmel’s show was not doing.

“Broadcasters have long retained the right to not air national programs that they believe are inconsistent with the public interest, including their local communities’ values,” Carr wrote in another post.

Carr’s role in Kimmel’s removal also has caused some concern on the right.

Sen. Ted…