Disney Didn't Expect What Happened After Jimmy Kimmel's Cancellation - & Is Scrambling To Fix It
The panic is palpable.
Because despite popular belief, the left has never been good at cancel culture. That's always been a right-wing thing. And they are aware of that. So I'm sure they were shocked that the left could boycott in an effective way like the right has in the past.
Just look at the Charlie Kirk aftermath. How many people lost their jobs because they showed the wrong emotion and posted about it? I haven't heard of a single person on the right fired for threatening retaliatory violence.
How many jokes did I hear about Nancy Pelosi's husband?
That's the thing that actively pisses me off the most. The right has been fucking monsters when it comes to their reactions to violence like that. Absolute, psychopathic, proudly hypocritical monsters, willing to joke about an elderly man being assaulted in his home because he happened to be the husband of a Democrat. And silence when asked about whether urging their sick followers to commit violence might be leading their sick followers to commit violence.
And the murders that took place in Minnesota a few months ago? Jokes and silence there, too.
But a late-night comedian says something that isn't even disrespectful or in any way condones violence, just acknowledges the kind of person Kirk was... and they lose their fucking minds.
Always remember this, folks: It's all performative. They don't actually care. They know Kimmel didn't say a goddamn thing that could be interpreted as support for violence. They know.
I would so love to see some of them actually lose their fucking jobs for the death threats they made right after Kirk getting popped.
I live in a red state. I'm constantly surrounded by pro-slavery confederate flags, open threats of violence in the form of punisher and 2A bumper stickers, and then direct calls for violence against all of "the left".
I've never considered calling their employers just to see which ones are okay with terroristic threats.
Just look at the Charlie Kirk aftermath. How many people lost their jobs because they showed the wrong emotion and posted about it? I haven’t heard of a single person on the right fired for threatening retaliatory violence.
Though only tangentially related, the fact that this man still has a job tells you everything you need to know about these alleged "conservative values". (like so many countless examples before)
https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/14/business/brian-kilmeade-fox-news-apology-homeless
Can't deny this.
I come from a family of MAGAts and when they're angry at something they make sure everyone knows it. They boycott aggressively, tell all their friends and family to do the same and they do not let up.
My friends and fiancee are really, really bad about these things in comparison. I'm sure our canceled subscriptions will be back in 3-4 months.
Gone nowhere have they? I can't imagine why.
These are the times that try men's souls. They are also the times that put the "Fuck You" in "Fuck You Money".
Jimmy did nothing wrong but they want him to apologise AND donate to a hate group? Fuck that bullshit.
I'd be ok with him donating a paltry amount. Say... $86.47
Those assholes love their dog whistle numbers, maybe it's time to show them how stupidly transparent it is.
They can't bring him back because they don't want to piss of Tump.
They can't keep him off air and not lose paying customers.
There is no fixing this. They made their choice, now suffer the consequences.
They can't bring him back because they don't want to piss of Tump.
Everything else is inconsequential. This is the essence of the problem. We're not supposed to be living in a country where anyone should be afraid to make fun of or piss off the president. He's not a king and he's not an emperor. He is a replaceable employee of the government.
Fun fact: the countries to the north end east of the USA have a king, the countries to the south and west used to have a king and an emperor (respectively).
You'll notice that none of them are overrun with tyrants.
In fact, most of the English speaking world shares a king, and many, many countries have a royal family who have bumbled along happily for centuries.
We think it's deeply weird when one world leader is doing his very best to piss off everyone except Russia, deliberately destabilising the environment, the global media, all the agreements that every other country is working together on, and his citizens are split between those who support him and those who keep saying 'this reminds me of how much I hate kings. No offense to the foundational identities of all our neighbours except Russia, but I can't imagine sinking so low as to tolerate a king'.
Like, dude, watch your own kids before you removed about everyone else's. How does someone train an entire nation so well that they express displeasure at the flagrant atrocities of their president and say 'fuck other countries and their shitty systems'.
It's honestly like living next to someone who keeps playing their music too loud and throwing rubbish into your garden and every now and again he stands on your garden yelling about how much he hates your begonias. It wouldn't be so bad if it was a sensible criticism, or something political, but it's so random you waste a surprising amount of energy being offended on behalf of your begonias before realising, every time, that neither of you probably specifically care about the begonias. It's the shouting.
Hey, Disney shareholders! Wanna know what'll get us to start watching Marvel movies or Star Wars or Pixar again? I'll bet you do! And it'll be easy.
Just demand the resignations of any person who decided to bow to fascism. Give them all the boot. Show them the door. Then bring in folks who actually give a shit about whether or not this country remains viable as a place to do business beyond this fucking quarter. Oh, and while you're at it, get some diversity, equity, and inclusion going on.
Who are you worried about losing by doing that? Right-wing conservatives? They already hate you, and watch Veggie Tales instead! Stop trying to cater to people who think your whole business model - depicting strong princesses for kids - is evil incarnate because they're not barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen.
Ball's in your court, Disney!
Speak for yourself, I haven't paid for anything Disney for years because of the way they've been abusing copyrights for decades.
Fair point. Add it to the list!
I'd also want them to start writing those movies well before I start watching them again. That might be more of a challenge.
VeggieTales is giving them too much credit - there's good moral lessons in there! (And the creator said all the botanically-fruit male veggies are canonically trans??)
I’m happy to watch it but I wont pay for it
Lol what? There's no profit/loss calculation between any number of consumers vs a fascist admin more than willing to chop you up and eat your corporate lunch. Their revenue could get cut in half and bending the knee is still the right business choice.
Their business model is selling media, they don't give a shit if they need to write out every minority princess protagonist for a white Jesus. So yeah, kill the scape goat, get some brownie points and wait for the media shit storm to blow over by next month.
I will lose all respect for Kimmel and refuse to watch him if he accepts their proposal to make an apology and donation. Nothing he said warrants that. Plus unless he switches to constantly kissing Trump & MEGA asses, they will be trying to shut him down again in the near future. Unless Trump is gone, all US media will soon be propaganda only. Maybe he can get picked up in the UK or EU or Canada instead.
Wasn't TELLING him to donate a considerable amount extortion? No one merely suggested he make a contribution. Hmm. I think Kimmel's lawyers won't let him accept their proposal.
As OP said, I doubt Kimmel viewers would let him accept it either.
It's lose on all fronts if he does.
The one consideration he should have is making sure his writers and crew have jobs. Jimmy himself will be fine, but that's not true of all of them.
Which is why it's important that the WGA has put out a statement of support.
If anyone is about to reply "it doesn't matter unless they're willing to strike", please go read up on how unions operate first. A strike is your big gun, and you don't bring it out on a whim.
I'm struggling to think of a situation that's more deserving of a strike than what is happening right now.
Maybe he can get picked up in the UK or EU or Canada instead.
Don't look to us to solve your self-inflicted problems for you.
We're already too busy protecting ourselves from the chaos of the USA's implosion.
Trump’s the outward facing person.
Fact check: the original vid this is from was about insomnia, not fascism
But Hitchcock was a huge anti-fascist and made anti fascist films https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-04-26-ca-50581-story.html
Disney wants Kimmel to tone down his rhetoric, as well as provide an apology to Charlie Kirk's family and donate to his right-wing organization, Turning Point USA
Ahahaha, fuck Disney!
Apparently they had a reconciliation meeting with Kimmel this week, asked him to do all this, and Jimmy's counteroffer was to give the same fuck-off speech he had planned to give anyway. This is how it should be done.
People seem to forget that the "Cancel" wave of the '10s mostly gave birth to a bunch of big ticket comedy specials titled "Can't Shut Me Up" and "The Snowflake Melting Tour".
Kimmel's only going to get louder for all of this.
Jimmy was hired to tell jokes and that's what he did. It's donny who started the insults. Jimmy did nothing but react to donny's craziness like decent people do.
I never cared that much about Kimmel, but I deeply cared about the government silencing him through company coercion.
I guess the C suite folks miscalculated people giving a shit about the First Amendment.
Same, I'm not a Kimmel fan but this crossed a line.
don't believe a word of this
Outcome predictions probably came from a room filled with bean counters at the behest of a soulless wraith in a suit saying that profits would be maximized because 51% of subscribers would continue buying Disney+. But now they're realizing that the blatant 1A violation profits were slightly below the 50% margin so they're all shitting their pants trying to fix the fuckup that came about because people aren't robots and MAGA cultists are less of their demographic than they'd anticipated.
A company that size makes predictions in terms of years and decades, this is barely going to be a margin-note in their long term plans.
I am shocked how much people underestimate huge organizations.
If you want this to actually surprise them, we need to do something that will actually surprise them, like not get bored with the entire story in 4 months time.
spoiler: everyone is going to get bored within weeks.
I mean, I'm pretty sure that Disney makes at least a little money outside the USA. I'm willing to bet that there are at least 2 other countries whose subscribers won't all cancel their subscriptions because the American political shitshow has touched upon a person they've never heard of (source: I'm in an English speaking country where people have Disney+ and watch Disney films and as far as I know, virtually nobody has heard of this guy and virtually everybody has exhausted their supply of 'wtf is the USA doing, surely they can't get away with that' for the year).
So unless you honestly think that the entire American user base is going to cancel - which seems wildly unlikely, given the political scene - AND that the number of Americans with subscriptions is at least equal to the number of subscribers outside the USA, then sorry bud, you aren't going to defeat fascism by pausing your Disney+ subscription for a few months.
It's a great start, and I personally think it's healthy to ethically curate one's free time where possible, but when October rolls around and Disney is still solvent, don't throw up your hands and say you gave it your best shot but the fight is clearly hopeless. You guys have let your corporations run unchecked for decades, if you want them to suddenly find a moral compass you need to settle in for a long game.
Thank you, I am so goddamn sick of these pandering headlines that are published simultaneously as the opposite spin which is algorithmically sent to right-wing viewers.
We have to start figuring this shit out as a society or we're sunk. For every headline that makes you feel a thing, there is a counterpart headline being circulated on the other side that makes them feel the same thing. Nothing can be trusted, everything is being made up to increase views and engagement and division.
Yep. They knew exactly what was going to happen and calculated that this is the best option.
I guess everybody knows this anyhow, but please make sure to remember:
If you just watched the above, however, and are now wondering why, as Kimmel's jabs weren't aimed at Kirk, but Trump, then you've hit on precisely why the backlash against Disney's Jimmy Kimmel decision is growing – and why it's not likely to stop any time soon.
Further:
Reportedly, Disney wants Kimmel to tone down his rhetoric, as well as provide an apology to Charlie Kirk's family and donate to his right-wing organization, Turning Point USA, suggestions that have only served to increase the backlash.
(...)
The feeling is that CEO Bob Iger and Disney Entertainment Co-Chairman Dana Walden caved too easily to MAGA pressure and manufactured outrage once again.
Reportedly, Disney wants Kimmel to tone down his rhetoric, as well as provide an apology to Charlie Kirk’s family and donate to his right-wing organization, Turning Point USA,
How about no.
So they're gonna uncancel Kimmel, right? Or are they gonna fire even more of their own talent that has been speaking out against their fealty to fascists?
Didn't they try to but he refused to accept their terms by not apologizing? (I don't watch Kimmel but he earned my respect for that.)
I want the executives to come out now and say "look this was an honest mistake, we're terribly sorry we let it appear that we continue to support and bend the knee to a dictator."
Then watch as all the people who cancelled Disney+ and Hulu not give a flying fuck.
The freedom of speech, is arguably the most important right we have. Without it? We have no rights. The second amendment becomes useless. The third becomes useless. There becomes no point in having the fourth. The fifth becomes unusable. The sixth becomes needless effort. The seventh is pointless, as then double jeopardy can just be said it ISNT double jeopardy because the government says so and your arguments against it are illegal speech. 8 and 9 pretty much mean you can't voice opinions that would affect those two. And 10 can no longer be argued against the executive.
Trump and ABC, in my mind, crossed a line that they were foolish to cross before they had concrete power. They have too much power now, but they do not have nearly enough to squash the entire country in opposition.
According to the article it looks like executives are pissed at the CEO and pointing out that the previous CEO's short tenure was partly due to caving to Florida's homophobic laws
Just a reminder: Freedom of speech is more important than a TV show.
and if you really want those TV shows you can get them for free! Somewhere, on the sea ARRRRR
Very much so. It's critical we sustain this pressure until the fascists cave. Don't give them an inch.
Edit: 25.4 mm for our allies abroad. Thanks friends :-)
Oh, I'm sure they expected backlash, but they had a choice between the public's wrath and trump's wrath, and like good little cowardly capitulators, they chose pleasing trump over standing up for their (and all of our) first amendment rights.
What they still don't realize is they chose pleasing Trump FOR NOW. He will never be truly satisfied and will ask for more and more until he's finally dead. Nothing has ever been enough for him. And these dumbasses are playing right into it.
Remember the end of the lion king when scar gets eaten by his army of hyenas?
Be the change you wish to see in the world
Pretty much everyone I know in Switzerland and Germany has cancelled their Disney+ subscription yesterday.
Also many German speaking comedians are urging everyone who hasn’t cancelled yet to do so immediately.
Thank you, citizens of the EU.
I'd love to know how many subscriptions they've lost. This is democracy at work; and bipartisan to a lot of degree. I do know many conservatives who do not bow to the Orange god.
🫣
There are many fronts to fight on, yes.
And the war in Ukraine rages on past the 24 hour promise Trump made, currently at 24300% overdue.
These are issues that are only connected by the fact that our administration is enabling them, but presently if we lose the 1st amendment we will lose everything because our very knowledge that those other two issues exist is because of our constitution.
if we lose the 1st amendment
It's not something that is won or lost. It's a policy that is implemented or not.
This administration is unequivocally refusing to implement 1st amendment rights (like, all of them, not just speech). That doesn't change until the people running the county change. But it also doesn't mean the 1A is "gone". It's still right where it always was.
If we lose the 1st amendment we will lose everything because our very knowledge that those other two issues exist is because of our constitution.
Which is why no country outside the USA has free speech, truth, or media that is in any way connected to reality. We're all just bumbling around in the epistemological darkness, relying on the USA for information about our own countries, wishing we had a first amendment too so we had a media landscape.
Alternative perspective: truth, freedom, and communication are inherent to the human existence. They exist outside the US constitution. If your government decides to rip up all your laws, it won't suddenly be ok to run amok murdering and stealing (which is why there are countries outside the USA where the citizens survive).
A lot of Americans seem to have a kind of cargo cult idea of human rights and laws. They do not exist because they are written in the constitution. The constitution has no value outside the rights it contains, and the antique paper. It does not create or contain free speech, it doesn't even guarantee it, it merely documents a broad consensus of values.
I personally think a lot of Americans would understand a lot more about the world, and their own country, if they realised that. Your constitution doesn't give you anything, any more than a shopping list has nutritional value or an inventory guarantees your furniture.
TLDR: I don't know if it's a phrasing thing or an actual misconception among Americans, but saying the first amendment 'gives you' free speech is a really dangerous mindset. It's like saying, the first rule in my instance on Lemmy is 'don't be a dick' so if they delete that rule or, God forbid, the instance / Lemmy gets shut down, the entire world will just run around being dicks. No.
You should behave in moral ways because it's the right thing to do, not because it's written down. Anybody who stops obeying a repealed law didn't want to obey it in the first place. The vast majority of the world is out there not being dicks, despite not being part of your online instance. You are human, you have rights and responsibilities as a human, not just as an American. You do not have rights because of the constitution: the constitution is only valid because, and as long as, the citizens agree with what it says.
(Also you guys have been killing people for saying things like 'I kinda think black people deserve rights' and 'hey guys look at this pharma company's accounts', so it shouldn't really be a surprise that your constitution isn't a magic force amulet against all wrong. It's an old terms and conditions document that's not always enforced)
This is a demonstration of the fallacy of relative privation.
I don't know if I'd call Kimmel's situation "privation".
lol fuck you, Disney. You had a good thing going. I love Star Wars, and I would have given you a subscription indefinitely for that. But no - you had to prostrate yourself to the fascists, and in doing so you bit the hand that feeds. I’m going to pirate every single bit of your content I can point my torrent box at from now on, and I’m going to seed and share it as much as I can. Fuck you, genuinely.
Scrambling To Fix It
I'd hardly call their negotiation offers "fixing" it. "Scrambling" is accurate enough though.
I doubt we'll hear about what the negotiations really are at first, it's likely all lawyers figuring out the scope and how large of a lawsuit it would be for the FCC to threaten to pull their license. Whether they think they can win based on the fact that the supreme court is corrupt or if they think the court will have to say it is a direct violation to keep up the guise the republic hasn't completely fallen yet.
The threat was made, they made the quick decision of pulling the show for damage control, and it blew up in their face.... Maybe. It gave them a basis of who would or wouldn't stand up for the case, and how angry people would be.
They didn't expect people cancelling? Oh boy then Disney has much bigger problems than this.
Oh, in that case we'll just keep paying the evil bastards!
Yeah, too late. They let the mask slip. We've seen their real face.
Seriously? Fucking how did they not expect this? These companies were already facing a festering hatred for the past several years, how on earth could they claim to be surprised? Come on, these executives are idiots, but they aren't stupid.
Sheer fucking hubris. They aren't aware that their consumer base is human beings.
They did expect this, and this is clickbait for the left.
All impacts were discussed. Disney did expect this.
Or it was a knee-jerk response from the top that no one was willing to stick their neck out to check.
Those guys throwing on a million in the pot at the beginning of the term, swore fealty. He might not even have consider the outcome before he demanded it. And the board shrugged.
Wow, if they really didn't anticipate a backlash, they are even more clueless than I thought.
Yeah, that alone seems like justification to fire anyone involved. They thought they'd just blatantly bow to regime censorship and no one would care? This didn't go through 5 levels of fretting about the blowback before deciding it was a lose-lose situation and just hoping they were making the right choice?
The Evil Mouse is a stupid mouse.
It’s the perfect storm to create that independent news group with John Oliver, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and company. All the misinformation starts at Murdoch and their agenda that’s been playing out for decades.
I would donate to a gofundme so fast
I'd gladly pay a subscription for that.
That's a beautiful thought.
I want a mount rushmore of Stewart, Oliver, Colbert, and Kimmel on screen while the theme song plays.
Because of course there will be a theme song! And some sick patriotic graphics with little easter eggs for thinking people.
I cancelled my sub like 6 months ago because their programming has been like 90% terrible for a couple of years now. Combine that with tacit approval of fascism, and they don’t seem to have a lot of selling points left.
But Iger is a business genius, so I’m sure he’ll have this sorted in no time. /s
Should take him three days tops.
I cancelled mine and was actually in the middle of watching the new King of the Hill and Alien Earth.
Matey, maybe you've got to sail the high seas for a life of plunder.
Disclaimer: I'm not good at pirate talk.
My policy is to treat all Disney products like they're made out of polonium.
I don't want to touch it, watch it, inadvertently promote it by interacting with it in any way.
I'm not withholding funds until Disney stops collaborating with nazis; those entertainment dollars are permanently earmarked for non-Disney sources.
I might buy a Jimmy Kimmel book.
The message is loud and clear, ye scurvy scallywag!
The only way to fix this is through Trump. Enjoy your match against Trump, Disney. We will be entertained.
What pisses me off is how Disney chooses their battles. In Florida they are totally against Deathsantis and his anti-lgbt rhetoric. While Vs trump they bend the knee.
Disney's parks earn like three times as much as Disney+ plus.
What's this, the predictable consequences of my actions? Well I never.
Kudos to Jimmy for not caving into the shitstains running Disney.
But Disney recently caught the ire of RepubliKKKans for siding with the gays. Wt actual f is happening here?
Disney is a massive machine always crunching numbers and making predictions, it doesn't matter what short-term dips and peaks and whatever political points they score for either side, they have calculated their margins out to like, the year 2300.
Too late, Disney. We fucking saw what you did.
The fash who've been trying to cancel Disney for being woke are probably envious of this energy.
I do not know a lot about Germany and the Nazi’s but I do know some companies were in on it. Who was the Paramount and Disney of that era in Germany? Who were the first to support the party in a significant way like this?
The Holocaust could not have happened without IBM.
IBM should have been broken up and sold off after WWII for collaborating with the Nazis.
Well of course Hollywood was into Hitler in general. Disney of course was the Disney of the time, that was back when Walt Disney himself was still alive, he was very fond of Hitler.
So you know, they have form.
You also get no prizes at all for guessing which political party in the US favoured the Nazis, although in fairness it was a view shared by pretty much all right-wing politicians worldwide, as expected.
I thought the Southern Switch happened in the 60's with Barry Goldwater?
You can't fix it with that board & that CEO.
Die in a fire.
If as a result people start gaining some consumer intelligence and instead of supporting the technofascist they start buying small and independent that would make this whole thing worth it.
Too late removed.
I'll never pay to watch anything Disney ever again.
I'll watch it.
But I'm not paying for it.
Good write up.
Is it me, or is ScreenRant pulling a BuzzFeed? AKA building respectable journalism atop its SEO clickfarm?
The hero we need, and don’t deserve…