Disney is preparing to fundamentally reshape the streaming landscape. After taking full ownership of Hulu in 2023, the company is now moving to shut the platform down and fold its entire library into Disney+ as part of a “one app experience.” That migration could occur imminently, and the scale of change is staggering.
When Disney launched Disney+ in 2019, the streaming marketplace was already crowded. Amazon Prime Video debuted in 2006, Netflix in 2007, and Hulu in 2008. With few external restrictions on content — no oversight from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and no advertisers, at that time, to hold content in check. As a result, these platforms broke boundaries that even premium cable channels like HBO and Cinemax would not have dared. offering more vulgarity, more graphic violence, more sex and nudity.
Disney+ promised to be different. 
From the beginning, Disney positioned its platform as a safe haven for families; a platform parents could trust implicitly. That promise worked. More than 10 million subscribers signed up within the first 24 hours, many of them parents desperate to escape the exhausting and never-ending task of shielding young eyes from suggestive poster art and racy titles like “Zac and Miri Make a Porno” or “Nymphomaniac” while they searched menus for the handful of child-appropriate titles that might be available. 
Market research confirmed this distinction. One industry analysis <a href="https://morningconsult.com/articles/disney-plus-streaming-market-brand-data">called</a> Disney+ “the category’s most intentionally chosen service.” Morning Consult found Disney+ scored +45 for “entertaining the kids,” while competitors posted negative scores across the board. “Disney+ is not interchangeable here,” the analysis concluded. “In household decision-making, this is Disney+’s moat.”
Disney executives publicly reinforced this family-first positioning. Months before launch, entertainment reporter Eric Vespe recalled asking a Disney representative whether R-rated content would appear on Disney+. The answer: Disney+ would remain PG-13 or softer, while more mature material would live on Hulu. Disney invested heavily in Hulu so adult-oriented material could remain off the Disney+ platform.
That intentional separation is now being completely dismantled. 
In the summer of 2025, executives signaled plans to shut down Hulu and migrate its entire library into Disney+.
Concerned Women for America (CWA) <a href="https://concernedwomen.org/2026-cwa-netflix-research/">looked at</a> the numbers and discovered that while Disney+ currently hosts fewer than 20 R-rated films, after the merger, that number will exceed 400 — a more than 2,200% increase. Mature-rated television series will escalate from 45 to nearly 400 — a more than 800% increase. Families who subscribed specifically for child-friendly programming will suddenly find their child’s favorite streaming platform flooded with volumes of adult material.
Parents have already seen glimpses of what this future looks like. Last year, families reported surprise and frustration when mature-themed series promotions appeared on Disney+ home screens, prompting uncomfortable questions from young children. Many parents believed Disney+ was designed to prevent exactly this scenario.
This shift represents more than a technical update. It represents a fundamental brand reversal.
Disney was once synonymous with wholesome family entertainment. Parents built household media habits around that identity. Children were given access to Disney+ because families trusted the brand.
That trust is now being put at risk.
Even more concerning is the creative direction Disney leadership appears eager to embrace. One of the most striking examples is the company’s reported interest in hiring producer Ryan Murphy as soon as his development deal with Netflix ends; Murphy’s career has largely focused on dark, adult-themed dramas. 
Murphy’s previous projects have centered on crime, horror, and provocative themes that were never intended for children. Yet Disney executives appear willing to fold this creative approach into a corporate ecosystem historically built around family audiences.
Walt Disney famously said, “Our greatest natural resource is the minds of our children.” That philosophy guided decades of storytelling built around imagination, optimism, and moral clarity.
Today’s leadership seems increasingly disconnected from that legacy.
And while Disney may point to parental controls as a solution, technology cannot solve a branding problem. The issue is not whether filters exist. The issue is whether adult content belongs on the same platform that parents deliberately chose for preschoolers and elementary-age children.
Mixing Mickey Mouse with mature television may make business sense on a spreadsheet. But it erodes the trust that made Disney+ successful in the first place.
The question now is simple: Will Disney honor the promise that built its streaming success — or abandon the families who made it possible?
The future of Disney+ may depend on how loudly parents answer that question.
* * *
Melissa Henson is the Senior Policy Advisor for Media and Culture for <a href="http://www.concernedwomen.org/">Concerned Women for America</a>, the nation’s public policy women’s organization, dedicated to promoting biblical values and constitutional principles in public policy. On X: @CWforA
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Rear View Of Two Boys Watching Movie Together, Lena, United States

Disney+ Is About To Be Flooded With Adult Content, And Parents Are Right To Be Alarmed

Children

Disney

Entertainment

Family Values

Film

Hulu

kids

Movies

Parenting

sexual content

Television

Violence

To the surprise of no one, Disney’s live-action version of “Snow White” was nominated for the internet’s most notorious film awards in 2026.
The massive flop was <a href="https://razzies.com/razz-newz.html">nominated</a> in six categories for the annual Golden Raspberry Awards (Razzies), making it the most nominated film alongside Ice Cube’s “War of the Worlds.” Both films were nominated for “Worst Picture.” 
“A slow-paced unnecessary re-imagining of a classic, filled with drawn-out musical numbers, dopey CGI dwarfs, and enough mediocrity to leave the audience in a very unhappy place,” the press release said of the nomination.
Somehow, activist actress Rachel Zegler managed to avoid being nominated for worst actress, despite many critics blaming her performances both on and off screen for contributing to the disaster. Besides Worst Picture, “Snow White” was nominated in the categories of Worst Remake, Supporting Actors, Screen Combo, Director, and Screenplay.
“Snow White” made just over $206 million worldwide, meaning it did not recoup its massive production budget. It has a 39% critics’ score and 69% audience rating on <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/disneys_snow_white">Rotten Tomatoes</a>.
The New York Times said of the film: “Neither good enough to admire nor bad enough to joyfully skewer; its mediocrity is among its biggest bummers.”
“Presumably one of the reasons to bring actors into remakes of animated classics would be to add a warm-blooded pulse to these characters. Zegler manages that, but everyone else in ‘Snow White’ — mortal or CGI — is as stiff as could be,” said a critic from The Associated Press.
One of the main issues was Zegler, who played the lead, not only insulting Trump voters but also disparaging the source material for the movie she was starring in.
During a 2022 expo, Zegler called Prince Charming a “stalker,” as The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/disney-hired-social-media-guru-for-rachel-zegler-after-anti-trump-posts-report?author=Amanda+Harding&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Disney+Hired+%E2%80%98Social+Media+Guru%E2%80%99+For+Rachel+Zegler+After+Anti-Trump+Posts%3A+Report">reported</a>. 
“I mean, you know, the original cartoon came out in 1937 and very evidently so. There’s a big focus on her love story with a guy who literally stalks her. Weird! Weird. So we didn’t do that this time,” she said at the time.
“We have a different approach to, what I’m sure a lot of people will assume is a love story, just because we cast a guy in the movie, Andrew Burnap, great dude,” she added. “It’s one of those things that I think everyone’s going to have their assumptions about what it’s going to be, but it’s really not about the love story at all, which is really, really wonderful.”
At another point, Zegler said, “[Snow White is] not going to be saved by the prince and she’s not going to be dreaming about true love,” Zegler said in the clip. “She’s dreaming about becoming the leader she knows she can be and the leader that her late father told her that she could be if she was fearless, fair, brave and true.”
The Razzies were founded in 1981. Nominations are determined by a group of more than 1,200 voters, and anyone who pays the annual $40 fee or the lifetime membership fee of $500 can count themselves among the voting panel.
As always, the “winners” will be announced on the night before the Academy Awards, which this year falls on March 14.

Snow White

Disney’s ‘Snow White’ Nominated For 6 Razzies, Including Worst Of 2026

Disney's 'Snow White' Picked As Worst Of 2026, Gets Nominated For 6 Razzies

Hollywood

In recent decades, the leftist political ethos has taken over how to tell fairy tales.
My favorite example is the arc Disney has gone through.
I&#8217;m a huge fan of the old Disney films. It makes me really sad how Disney has destroyed its own intellectual property and really screwed itself up as a company in the service of politics.
My favorite example is the difference between the film “Pinocchio” and the film “Frozen.”
In “Pinocchio,” Jiminy Cricket sings, “Always let your conscience be your guide.” The entire story of “Pinocchio” is that the boy who is coming of age refuses to let his conscience be his guide. He has to explore every bad idea, and finally learns that responsibility for protecting his own family and his father is actually how you become a real boy. The way that you actually mature in the world is to take on responsibility and duty and act with conscience, as opposed to going to Pleasure Island.
The theme could not have been more clearly stated.
Contrast that with the immorality of the most popular song in the last 20 years from Disney, “Let It Go,” in which there is literally a lyric that says “No right, no wrong, no rules, I&#8217;m free,” which is about as pagan an ethos as is possible to get.
You can see the arc of American morality in three generations right there.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/bss-251223-member-exclusive?elementPosition=3&amp;row=2&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-974957" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp" alt="DailyWire+" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-300x50.webp 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-768x128.webp 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1536x256.webp 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-2048x341.webp 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
If you look back to Shakespeare, he sometimes creates a toned-up version of fairy tales. All of his comedies are essentially a type of fairy tale, and every single one of them ends with a marriage. That’s because life is funny; all these bad things happen, and yet the generations move on. You get married, and you build something.
With the tragedies, everyone dies at the end. In these works, death is a tragedy because the characters have not fulfilled their function of passing it on to the next generation.
Moreover, in the tragedies, it&#8217;s not just an old person dying, it&#8217;s the young person dying that&#8217;s the real tragedy. The tragedy of King Lear isn&#8217;t Lear&#8217;s death; it’s Cordelia&#8217;s death.
That’s true throughout all of the stories of the West: the importance of the deepest things. And because we have become a sterile civilization, I wonder, how much of that is connected to the sterility of rationality?
I really pride myself on rationality. I love reason, reason&#8217;s great; logic is great. But the truth is that the things that people tie themselves to are beyond reason.
I’ve spoken about what I call role theory, which is the idea that all of religion and all of culture is built around particular roles that are universal to human beings.
But we as a society have decided that roles are bad. Roles are impositions from the outside. What we really are is free-floating, authentic desire. And because roles come with rules, they are an imposition on us, and therefore, we have to explode those roles to live a free and full life. In reality, the roles are what make us who we are. And that’s pretty much what every fairy tale is about.
What every great story is about is a person reconciling and making the most of the role that has been laid out for them; the world pre-exists you; you&#8217;re meant for a role the minute you&#8217;re born. That role is laid out for you. You have liberty to live out choices within that role, but the minute that liberty becomes a universal asset that destroys the role, the minute that happens, it&#8217;s no longer liberty.
Then it becomes libertinism, and everything descends into chaos.

Traditional wooden Pinocchio toy.

From Conscience To Chaos: How Modern Storytelling Abandoned Moral Roles

Animation

Ben Shapiro

Cartoon

Culture

Morality

Opinion

Social Issues

Woke Culture

“Wicked: For Good” European Premiere – Arrivals

The Real Reason Hollywood Keeps Turning Villains Into Heroes

actors

Matt Walsh

Propaganda

Wicked

After a string of high-profile failures, Disney finally scored a win with the animated sequel “Zootopia 2” over Thanksgiving weekend.
The movie broke records for the House of Mouse. It raked in over $559 million globally since its premiere on Wednesday, earning the highest international earnings ever for an animated film, and the highest international earnings for a sequel. “Zootopia 2” also earned the fourth-highest earnings among all films, according to <a href="https://deadline.com/2025/11/zootopia-2-box-office-records-1236631348/">Deadline</a>. 
The animated sequel boasted a $156 million estimated gross total domestically over the five-day holiday, putting it second in line behind “Moana 2,” which earned $225 million domestically in 2024. 
“Disney has made it an event that comes virtually every year over the Thanksgiving holiday,” Paul Dergarabedian, head of marketplace trends at Comscore, said of the results, per <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/30/business/zootopia-sequel-thanksgiving-box-office">CNN</a>. “Families just embraced (‘Zootopia 2’) in such a profound way.”
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Zootopia 2 | Final Trailer" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5AwtptT8X8k?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
The analyst noted that the second-highest earner, “Wicked: For Good,” also performed strongly for its second week.
“They did not really detract at all from each other … This performance was born out of having a perfectly curated, perfectly strategized release of these two movies,” Dergarabedian added.
The original “Zootopia” was released in 2016. The story follows a bunny cop, Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin), who must work with sarcastic con artist fox Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) to solve a mystery in a city full of talking animals. In the follow-up, Nick is Judy’s partner as they take on another case.
While Disney has been pushing the envelope with leftist themes and LGBT storylines, it’s worth noting that “Zootopia 2” didn’t necessarily follow that script. While some viewers pointed out how the plot of both movies could be seen as taking a progressive stance on topics such as racism and colonialism, there are no same-sex kissing scenes or LGBT-identifying characters. 
The film currently has a 91% critic score and 96% audience score on <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/zootopia_2">Rotten Tomatoes</a>. 
“‘Zootopia 2’ is pure delight, every bit as exciting and heartwarming and imaginative as the Oscar-winning original and maybe even funnier,” said film critic Nell Minow of RogerEbert.com.

Zootopia 2

Disney Rebounds With ‘Zootopia 2,’ Breaking Box Office Records

Disney Rebounds With 'Zootopia 2' Bringing In $156M At Box Office

Box Office

Disney CEO Bob Iger alluded to “productive conversations” he’s having with unnamed AI companies — talks that he said could eventually let Disney+ subscribers generate their own content on the platform.
The entertainment exec made the revelation during the company’s fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 earnings conference call this week, saying Disney+ is “in the midst of rolling out the biggest and the most significant changes — from a product perspective, from a technology perspective” since its launch in 2019, per <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/disney-plus-gen-ai-user-generated-content-1236426135/">The Hollywood Reporter</a>.
Some of the changes Iger highlighted include “game-like features” and user-generated short-form content generated by AI.
“The other thing that we’re really excited about, that AI is going to give us the ability to do, is to provide users of Disney+ with a much more engaged experience,” the Disney CEO said.
Iger mentioned that “it’s obviously imperative for us to protect our (intellectual property) with this new technology.” 
Though no further details were given, these hints at a user-generated, AI-based future were enough to send social media into a frenzy, with most commenters agreeing it&#8217;s a very bad idea.
“Hey! so, we don&#8217;t want this! at all, actually! it&#8217;s a disgrace to Walt Disney and real animators &amp; artists—also a super quick way to lose your entire fanbase,” one viral X comment <a href="https://x.com/bigdaddyankee/status/1989033420949975175?s=43">said</a>.
“On a serious note, this is a disgrace to the entire animation industry,” another account <a href="https://x.com/farkingfangirl/status/1989014498028712266?s=43">echoed</a>.
“Imagine going on a years long losing streak at the box office, and thinking the answer was cheaply produced AI slop,” another <a href="https://x.com/JollyRogX/status/1988999938307436859">said</a>.
&#8220;User generated AI content on Disney+ is either going to be amazing or absolutely terrible. No middle ground on this one,&#8221; a third commenter predicted.
<div class="css-175oi2r">
<div class="css-175oi2r r-1s2bzr4">
<div id="id__j5h40ekd7j" class="css-146c3p1 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-37j5jr r-1inkyih r-16dba41 r-bnwqim r-135wba7" dir="auto" lang="en" data-testid="tweetText">Another said, &#8220;I am very pro AI and I think this is a big mistake.&#8221;</div>
</div>
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Earlier this year, Disney and Universal teamed up to sue the AI image generation firm Midjourney for what they described as copyright infringement and a “bottomless pit of plagiarism,” as The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bottomless-pit-of-plagiarism-disney-and-universal-sue-ai-image-generator?author=Amanda+Harding&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=%E2%80%98Bottomless+Pit+Of+Plagiarism%E2%80%99%3A+Disney+And+Universal+Sue+AI+Image+Generator">reported</a>.  
The future of AI and how it’s being applied to the entertainment industry has been a hotly debated topic lately among everyone from company execs to actors, unions, and everyday consumers.

Disney AI

Social Media Rips Disney’s Plan For AI-Generated Fan Content

Artificial Intelligence

Bob Iger

Business

Technology

“Star Wars” alum Oscar Isaac said he would be willing to return to the franchise if Disney stayed woke.
The actor played X-wing fighter pilot Poe Dameron in the Star Wars sequel trilogy that began with “The Force Awakens” in 2015. During a newly published <a href="https://www.gq.com/story/oscar-isaac-gq-cover-story-interview-men-of-the-year-2025">interview</a> with GQ, Isaac reflected on a comment he previously made about returning to “Star Wars” only if he “needed another house.”
“Yeah. That was a real likable quote. Jesus Christ,” he told the interviewer after it was brought up. “Y’know, people ask you things, you say stuff, you don’t really think about it that much. I said a slightly d***ish thing.”
Isaac had said he was done with Disney for years, but now claims to be “open to” returning, with stipulations.
“Although right now I’m not so open to working with Disney,” he told GQ. “But if they can kinda figure it out and, you know, not succumb to fascism, that would be great,” Isaac added.
The interview included an editor’s note, noting it was “conducted two days after ABC and Disney suspended production of Jimmy Kimmel Live! in response to comments Kimmel made following the death of Charlie Kirk. Kimmel was back on the air four days after this conversation took place.”
Isaac appeared in several “Star Wars” franchise films, including “The Last Jedi” (2017) and “The Rise of Skywalker” (2019). He also voiced the character Dameron in the “Star Wars Resistance” animated series. 
Hollywood went into full-on meltdown mode following Kimmel’s suspension in September. Most celebrities blamed President Donald Trump for the suspension.
Kimmel’s remarks were taken to imply that Kirk’s killer was linked to Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement. Investigators say that the 22-year-old man arrested for Kirk’s killing was deeply steeped in leftist ideology and disliked Kirk for his conservative views.
“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,” Kimmel said during the monologue in question.
When he returned following a brief suspension, Kimmel claimed that “it was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man.”

Oscar Isaac

‘Star Wars’ Actor Says He’ll Work With Disney If It Passes His Woke Purity Test

'Star Wars' Actor Said He'll Work With Disney Only If It Doesn't 'Succumb To Fascism'

Celebrities

Fascism

Star Wars

U.S.

Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel is still complaining about his brief hiatus from television, this time by claiming that conservative media outlets “maliciously mischaracterized” what he said about Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
The 57-year-old rehashed the topic during the annual Bloomberg Screentime event on Wednesday.
“I didn&#8217;t think there was a big problem,” Kimmel said of his initial reaction to the killing of Kirk. “I just saw it as distortion on the part of some of the right-wing media networks, and I aimed to correct it.”
Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw said Kimmel’s comments were likely “mischaracterized,” and Kimmel agreed.
“It was intentionally and I think maliciously mischaracterized,” Kimmel replied. 
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Jimmy Kimmel on His Return to Air and Late Night’s Future in the Trump Era" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pSvFLrrSu94?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Kimmel came under fire last month for saying “the MAGA gang” was “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.”
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His show was suspended after that, sparking national outrage from the entertainment industry and others, who perceived pressure from the Trump administration as an attack on free speech. The suspension lasted less than a week, and upon his return, Kimmel delivered a tearful non-apology during his monologue.
“It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man,” Kimmel said, addressing his earlier comments about Kirk. “I don’t think there’s anything funny about it … nor was it my intention to blame any specific group for what was the actions … of an obviously deeply disturbed individual. That was really the opposite of the point I was trying to make. But I understand that to some, that felt either ill-timed or unclear, or maybe both, and to those who think I did point a finger, I get why you’re upset.”
While speaking with Bloomberg, Kimmel said his first episode back “probably went as well as it could go.”
The late-night host had previously suggested that the Trump administration was behind his suspension, but then, during his interview with Bloomberg, Kimmel said he’d “love to have Trump on the show.”
Kimmel’s comeback episode drew big numbers — but the bump didn’t last.

Jimmy Kimmel

Kimmel Claims His Comments On Charlie Kirk’s Assassination Were ‘Maliciously Mischaracterized’

Kimmel Claims His Comments On Charlie Kirk's Assassination Were 'Maliciously Mischaracterized'

Charlie Kirk

“Jimmy Kimmel Live” will return to the air on Tuesday after being suspended last week, Disney announced on Monday.
&#8220;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. 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,&#8221; a Disney spokesperson <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/disney-announces-jimmy-kimmel-live-returning-tuesday-after-suspension">told</a> Fox News Digital in a statement.
Kimmel’s suspension caused a complete uproar in the Hollywood community and across social media as critics accused the network of “censorship” and squashing free speech.
The comments from Kimmel that prompted the suspension included the host falsely claiming that Kirk’s assassin was a MAGA supporter. Investigators say that Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old man arrested for Kirk’s killing, was deeply steeped in leftist ideology and disliked the conservative commentator for his beliefs.
“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,” Kimmel said during his show last week.
The late-night host’s suspension came amid pressure from broadcast companies that own ABC affiliates, including Nexstar and Sinclair, who pulled the show from their stations.
Last Wednesday, FCC chair Brendan Carr criticized Kimmel’s comments, leading many to assume that Kimmel’s show was pulled due to government pressure.
Multiple petitions and protests were ongoing. Kimmel made no public statements, but was seen visiting his attorney, per multiple reports. Other late night hosts came out with full fury in support of their colleague, with Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert, Bill Maher, and others saying the suspension was wrong.
Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner also came out publicly against the suspension.
Meanwhile, many people observed that Kimmel’s ratings have been less than stellar for a while, leading them to speculate that the suspension was about more than a single issue.

JIMMY KIMMEL

Disney Caves, Will Let Jimmy Kimmel Return To Air On Tuesday

comedian

Howard Stern announced on his radio show Monday that he canceled his Disney Plus subscription as a form of protest against Jimmy Kimmel being suspended.
“I’m trying to say with the pocketbook that I do not support what they’re doing with Jimmy,” the shock jock told his audience. “I can no longer keep my mouth shut … I feel obligated to say something, because s***’s getting outta control,” Stern said at another point.
“I just know, when the government begins to interfere, when the government says, ‘I’m not pleased with you, so we’re going to orchestrate a way to silence you,’ it’s the wrong direction for our country,” Stern added. “And I should know. I’ve been involved in something like this,” he said, referencing multiple fines from the FCC his show has received over the years for indecent content.
“Jimmy Kimmel Live” was suspended last week after comments the host made about Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old man accused of assassinating conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Kimmel falsely claimed that Kirk’s assassin was a MAGA supporter.
“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,” Kimmel said during his show.
The late-night host’s suspension came amid pressure from broadcast companies that own ABC affiliates, including Nexstar and Sinclair, who pulled the show from their stations.
While most of Hollywood is crying about censorship, there’s an alternate explanation being given for Kimmel’s show getting pulled, which has to do with low ratings. 
“If Howard is sad about Kimmel’s absence on air, he should talk to ABC who made the decision to pull down his unfunny and unpopular show,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement to <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/09/22/media/howard-stern-blasts-abc-suspension-of-jimmy-kimmel-cancels-disney/">the New York Post</a>.
“This has nothing to do with free speech; low-ratings loser Kimmel is free to make whatever bad jokes he wants, but a private company is under no obligation to lose money producing unpopular shows,” she added. “Kimmel’s ratings have declined over 63 percent since his show moved to its current time slot and he has lost over 43 percent of his audience since President Trump returned to office.”

Howard Stern

Howard Stern Says He Canceled His Disney Plus Account Over Jimmy Kimmel Suspension

boycott

Media

Several Marvel stars are urging a boycott of their own parent company, Disney, following last week’s suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live. Kimmel&#8217;s show airs on ABC, which Disney also owns.
“She-Hulk” actress Tatiana Maslany told her Instagram followers to terminate their streaming services, writing, “Cancel your @disneyplus @hulu @espn subscriptions!” 
Actor Pedro Pascal shared a similar message on social media Thursday, asking fans to boycott as a means to “defend free speech” and “defend democracy.”
Marisa Tomei, who played Aunt May in several Marvel Spider-Man films, also instructed her followers to “unsubscribe and boycott” Disney and ABC.
Marvel actor and outspoken leftist Mark Ruffalo also wrote that the company&#8217;s stock will &#8220;go down a lot further if they cancel&#8221; Kimmel&#8217;s show permanently.
&#8220;Disney does not want to be the ones that broke America,&#8221; Ruffalo <a href="https://www.threads.com/@markruffalo/post/DO1CP-Jjtsj">wrote</a> in a Threads post. He also told fans that he’s on Kimmel’s side by posting a photo of them standing together, which included the caption, “Standing with you Jimmy Kimmel Live!” 
Ruffalo said during a No Kings online event, “My industry doesn’t really understand what’s happening right now, but what they do understand is our freedom of speech is being attacked.”
“Lost” creator Damon Lindelof threatened to sever ties with Disney on social media, saying he could not &#8220;in good conscience work for the company&#8221; until Kimmel&#8217;s show is back on the air. Lindelof&#8217;s threat is significant because he is involved in an upcoming Star Wars and Lucasfilm project, according to <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/jimmy-kimmel-suspension-reactions-marvel-disney-stars-1236376120/">The Hollywood Reporter</a>. Disney owns Lucasfilm and the Star Wars brand.
“I was shocked, saddened and infuriated by yesterday’s suspension and look forward to it being lifted soon. If it isn’t, I can’t in good conscience work for the company that imposed it,” Lindelof <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DOwIihziT9Z/">wrote</a>.
A statement voicing outrage over the suspension has been signed by more than 600 comedians, including Jimmy Fallon, Chelsea Handler, Rosie O’Donnell, W. Kamau Bell, Kathy Griffin, David Cross, Kevin Nealon, Margaret Cho, and others.
“It’s a dark time for comedians, and by extension, for all Americans,” it <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-vhY9XHKjmqUJ50imhEn4UPXTTYgxY9XlZ83hhA2k_o/edit?tab=t.0">reads</a>. “When the government targets one of us, they target us all. They strike at the heart of our shared humanity. They strip away the basic right every person deserves: to speak freely, question boldly and laugh loudly.”
The comments from Kimmel that prompted the backlash included the host falsely claiming that Kirk’s assassin was a MAGA supporter. Investigators say that Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old man arrested for Kirk’s killing, was deeply steeped in leftist ideology and disliked the conservative commentator for his beliefs.
“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,” Kimmel said during his show last week.
The late-night host’s suspension came amid pressure from broadcast companies that own ABC affiliates, including Nexstar and Sinclair, who pulled the show from their stations.

Kimmel

Marvel Stars Turn On Parent Company, Call For Disney Boycott After Kimmel Suspension

Singer Sarah McLachlan, the Canadian recording artist who rose to fame in the 1990s, is getting mixed reactions for refusing to perform at Disney’s “Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery” documentary premiere.
The 57-year-old was slated to perform on Sunday but later pulled out due to her disagreement with “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” being suspended indefinitely by ABC as of last week, per <a href="https://deadline.com/2025/09/sarah-mclachlan-opts-out-performing-abc-news-lilith-fair-1236552063/">Deadline</a>. The red carpet event for the premiere was also canceled at the last minute, as several individuals involved in the project protested Kimmel being “censored.”
McLachlan was one of the founders of Lilith Fair, a traveling music festival featuring female musicians that ran from 1997 to 1999 and was revived in 2010. She appears in the documentary, which is distributed by ABC News Studios, a subsidiary of Disney.
“It’s a gift for all of us to see [this film], but also I’ve grappled with being here tonight and around what to say about the present situation that we are all faced with, the stark contraction to the many advances we’ve made watching the insidious erosion of women’s rights, of trans and queer rights, the muzzling of free speech,” she said. 
“I think we’re all fearful for what comes next, and none of us know, but what I do know is that I have to keep pushing forward as an artist, as a woman to find a way through, and though I don’t begin to know what the answer is, I believe we all need to work towards a softening to let in the possibility of a better way, because I see music as a bridge to our shared humanity, to finding common ground.”
“If Lilith taught me anything, it taught me there is a great strength in coming together to lift each other up instead of tearing each other down,” McLachlan added. “So I really hope this documentary inspires everyone to continue to try and create positive change in your communities, to keep lifting each other up, keep championing the causes you believe in with kindness and empathy because ultimately we’re all in this together.”
She apologized to fans who found the cancellation “disappointing,” saying she and singer Jewel both chose to cancel their performances “in support of free speech.”
This led to mockery online, with many pointing out that it was as if McLachlan was canceling herself.
“The right to free speech does not encompass the right to be perennially unprofitable,” one person on X <a href="https://x.com/Ralphy__Boy/status/1970044227984949481">said</a>, referencing the Kimmel situation.
“This isn’t about free speech. It’s about bad jokes and bad ratings,” another <a href="https://x.com/cdjohns2009/status/1970077584600760651">agreed</a>.
“So… they’re cancelling themselves?” a third commenter <a href="https://x.com/timeflies9270/status/1970071264393085103">wrote</a>.
Many celebrities and public figures have spoken out against the suspension of Kimmel’s late-night show, claiming it is a violation of free speech. The host falsely insinuated that the man accused of assassinating Charlie Kirk was part of the “MAGA gang.”
Kimmel had stated in his monologue, “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.”

Sarah McLachlan

Sarah McLachlan Refuses To Perform At Disney’s ‘Lilith Fair’ Premiere Over Kimmel Suspension

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