Over 400 prominent artists — including actors, comedians, musicians, writers, and directors — have signed a letter blasting ABC’s decision to suspend late-night host Jimmy Kimmel.
Less than a week after Jimmy Kimmel Live was indefinitely pulled from the air over comments that the comedian made about conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s death, Hollywood is making its outrage clear. The open letter from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) condemns the suspension as an effort to silence artists, journalists, and media companies, calling it a “dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation.”
“In an attempt to silence its critics, our government has resorted to threatening the livelihoods of journalists, talk show hosts, artists, creatives, and entertainers across the board. This runs counter to the values our nation was built upon, and our Constitution guarantees,” the letter states. “We know this moment is bigger than us and our industry. Teachers, government employees, law firms, researchers, universities, students and so many more are also facing direct attacks on their freedom of expression.”
Though the letter does not name President Donald Trump, his FCC chair, Brandan Carr, ABC, or its parent company, Disney, it notes that “Jimmy Kimmel was taken off the air after the government threatened a private company with retaliation.”
Disney/Patrick Harbron; Courtesy of Marvel Studios; Disney+
The list of signees notably includes several actors who have starred in work produced and/or distributed by ABC and Disney. Among the names is Freakier Friday star Jamie Lee Curtis, Thunderbolts actresses Florence Pugh and Julia-Louis Dreyfus, The Mandalorian actor Pedro Pascal, Only Murders in the Building stars Meryl Streep, Martin Short and Selena Gomez, Grey’s Anatomy alum T.R. Knight, HSMTMTS star Olivia Rodrigo, Andor creator and star Tony Gilroy and Diego Luna, Agatha All Along lead Kathryn Hahn, MCU alum Mark Ruffalo, and Hamilton star/Moana songster, Lin Manuel Miranda.
“Regardless of our political affiliation, or whether we engage in politics or not, we all love our country. We also share the belief that our voices should never be silenced by those in power – because if it happens to one of us, it happens to all of us,” the letter continues. “This is the moment to defend free speech across our nation. We encourage all Americans to join us, along with the ACLU, in the fight to defend and preserve our constitutionally protected rights.”
Additional signatories include Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, Robert DeNiro, Jane Fonda, Tom Hanks, Ben Stiller, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michael Keaton, Regina King, Diego Luna, Maya Rudolph, Kerry Washington, Rosie O’Donnell, and more. The letter and full list of signatories can be found here.
Kimmel’s suspension comes in the wake of pushback from FCC Chairman Carr and ABC affiliate station owners. On the Sept. 15 episode of his late-night show, Kimmel was discussing Kirk’s alleged killer when he said, “We had 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 with everything they can to score political points from it.”
Disney/Randy Holmes
Afterwards, FCC chair Brendan Carr appeared on a podcast in which he implored local broadcast affiliates to preempt the show and called for Disney to punish Kimmel for engaging in “some of the sickest conduct possible.”
Nexstar Media Group, which owns local television stations, said it would preempt the program in objection and Sinclair Broadcast Group, which owns the most ABC affiliates, also planned to keep Kimmel’s show off its stations.
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The move has been met by a chorus of critics, including current and former hosts of similar talk shows that regularly skewer the political news of the day. Conan O’Brien wrote that Kimmel’s suspension “should disturb everyone on the Right, Left, and Center,” while Bill Maher called out the network for remaining silent after pulling Jimmy Kimmel Live from the air. Several stars have also moved to cancel their Disney+ subscriptions in solidarity with Kimmel’s firing.
