Michael Eisner condemned Disney-owned ABC’s suspension of Jimmy Kimmel following his comments about Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
Eisner Comments on Kimmel Situation
Eisner, who was CEO of The Walt Disney Company from 1984 to 2005, posted this on X:
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? 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.
Kimmel said on on his September 16 episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, “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.” He also played a clip of Trump responding to a reporter who asked how he was doing following Kirk’s death by changing the subject to talk about the White House ballroom under construction.
ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! “indefinitely.” The suspension came after Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr said, “What people don’t understand is that the broadcasters … have a license granted by us at the FCC, and that comes with it an obligation to operate in the public interest. When we see stuff like this, look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct, on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
Nexstar, the biggest owners of local TV stations in the U.S., then announced they would preempt the show. Nexstar released a statement saying, “Mr. Kimmel’s comments about the death of Mr. Kirk are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse, and we do not believe they reflect the spectrum of opinions, views, or values of the local communities in which we are located.”
On September 18, over 300 Union actors and writers protested Kimmel’s suspension outside Disney’s Alameda Avenue gate in Burbank.
For the latest Disney Parks news and info, follow WDW News Today on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.