MAGA and conservative influencers are torching Disney’s dramatic decision Monday to bring back Jimmy Kimmel Live!
The show will return to its regular time slot on Tuesday after it was suspended “indefinitely” last week over comments Kimmel made about the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
“Last Wednesday, we made the decision to suspend production on the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country,” a spokesperson for Disney said. “It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive.”
“We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday,” the spokesperson added.
But for MAGA conservatives, those conversations did not suffice.
“Disney and ABC caving and allowing Kimmell back on the air is not surprising, but it’s their mistake to make,” Andrew Kolvet, executive producer of The Charlie Kirk Show, wrote on X. “Nextstar and Sinclair do not have to make the same choice.” The company he appears to have been referring to is called Nexstar. It owns the largest number of local ABC stations in the country. It and Sinclair prompted the suspension Wednesday by saying they would refuse to show Kimmel’s show.
Right-wing political commentator Auron Macintyre implored his more-than 230,000 followers on X to bombard ABC, Disney and their advertisers with criticism.
“All hands on deck patriots,” Macintyre began.
“ABC is returning Jimmy Kimmel to air after it’s affiliates were threated with terrorist attacks...ABC wants America to know that terrorism will be rewarded, this cannot stand...Phone calls, email, social media, flood every inbox and notification tab,” the post continued.
The podcaster then listed the emails and phone numbers of ABC and Disney executives, as well as businesses including Pet Smart, Target, Dairy Queen, and Mercedes-Benz.
He wasn’t the only one calling for a reaction.
“Disney ABC let the WOKE Mob get to them and decided to bring back Jimmy Kimmel,” an anonymous account titled MAGA Voice with 1.3 million followers wrote on X. “TIME TO BOYCOTT DISNEY.”
The right’s call to boycott Disney is a dramatic about-turn for MAGA and for Disney. Until it announced Kimmel’s comeback the Mouse House was facing mounting calls from liberals for a boycott, with Howard Stern telling his listeners Monday morning that he had canceled its Disney+ streaming service.
Stern was not the only one protesting at Disney CEO Bob Iger’s decision to had made the move to suspend Kimmel. The reversal came after a day of mounting pressure for the entertainment giant.
At least 400 celebrities—including Tom Hanks, Jennifer Aniston, and Meryl Streep—signed a letter protesting ABC’s decision to pull Jimmy Kimmel Live! And on Sunday night, stars including Jewel, Sarah McLaughlin and Olivia Rodrigo boycotted a Hulu red carpet.
But Disney’s decision to put Kimmel back on air prompted a new cast of celebrities to melt down: The MAGA ones.
Megyn Kelly posted, “Must be nice to be a leftist. ‘Cancellation’ lasts 5 nights and you’re right back under klieg lights. On the right you’re underground.”
Conservative podcast host Matt Walsh joined the pile-on, writing: “Kimmel’s show was put on pause for like 3 days and yet leftists will look us dead in the eyes and tell us that this was a greater attack on free speech than shooting and killing Charlie Kirk.”
Fox News contributor Clay Travis suggested the Trump administration should bring even more strong-arm tactics to bear on Iger’s company, including leveraging Disney’s planned deal with the NFL which would make it s 10% holder of ESPN at the same time as the NFL Network being folded into ESPN. That deal will be subject to regulatory approval, which Travis said should be used to force “changes” to Kimmel and other ABC shows.
“I think there should be actual changes in the way this show is airing,” he told anchor Will Cain. “And I think the Trump Administration needs to look aggressively at that potential [National Football League] acquisition and say, ‘Is Disney [and] ABC really trying to speak to all of America? If they won’t do it on a late night show, will they do it with sports?’”
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment.
The decision to broadcast Kimmel came amid a storm over free speech and the Trump administration’s aggressive attacks on Kimmel and ABC.
Hours before Kimmel’s suspension, Brendan Carr, the Trump-appointed chair of the Federal Communications Commission, accused the host intentionally playing into a “narrative” that Tyler Robinson, Kirk’s alleged assassin, was a “MAGA or Republican-motivated person.” He then openly threatened action against the broadcaster.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said. “These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.” Later last week, Carr went on to gleefully suggest investigating The View, another long-term Trump target.
However Kimmel’s comments, which came during last Monday night’s monologue on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, did not feature Kimmel “explicitly” characterizing Robinson as MAGA or Republican.
Kimmel actually said, “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.”
