More than 400 celebrities ― including Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Robert DeNiro and Jennifer Aniston ― signed an open letter with the American Civil Liberties Union calling Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension a “dark moment for freedom of speech.”
The letter, released Monday, comes days after ABC, a subsidiary of Disney, said it was “indefinitely” taking “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” off the air following remarks he made criticizing conservatives’ response to Charlie Kirk’s killing.
“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,” the letter states.
“We know this moment is bigger than us and our industry,” the letter continued. “Teachers, government employees, law firms, researchers, universities, students and so many more are also facing direct attacks on their freedom of expression.”
Other big names to sign the letter include Pedro Pascal, Bryan Cranston, Claire Danes, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jane Fonda, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mark Ruffalo, Rosie O’Donnell, Chelsea Handler and Selena Gomez.
But the letter stops short of vowing to boycott or stop working with Disney, whose longtime CEO Bob Iger and top executive Dana Walden reportedly made the call to suspend Kimmel after President Donald Trump’s FCC chair Brendan Carr hinted at punishing the company with regulatory action.
Iger, once known for standing up to Trump and conservatives on climate policy and anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, has been playing nice with the president since he secured a return to the White House. In December, Disney settled a lawsuit Trump brought against the company, agreeing to donate $15 million to his future presidential foundation and museum. In February, Disney scaled back its diversity, equity and inclusion programs, and in May, Trump revealed that Iger had visited him at the Oval Office.
Disney produced four of the top 10 highest grossing films last year, claiming the top three spots.
Damon Lindelof, creator of ABC’s massive hit “Lost,” shared in an Instagram post last week that if Kimmel’s suspension isn’t lifted, he “can’t in good conscience work for the company that imposed it.”
At least two actors who’ve starred in recent Disney projects have publicly called for people to stop giving Disney their money. Tatiana Maslany, who starred in the Disney+ series “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law,” told fans in an Instagram post last week to “cancel” their Disney+, Hulu and ESPN subscriptions. Marisa Tomei, who’s appeared in Disney’s “Avengers” movies, also called for fans to “unsubscribe and boycott” the company’s platforms.