Artists and actors are beginning to organize on behalf of Jimmy Kimmel in the wake of Jimmy Kimmel Live!’s indefinite suspension from ABC due to comments the host made about the murder of Charlie Kirk. As of Monday, more than 400 actors and creatives, including Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, and Selena Gomez, have signed an open letter published by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), decrying the “dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation.”
Kimmel’s removal from the airwaves came after the comedian and late-night host discussed Kirk’s alleged murderer, Tyler Robinson, in his monologue last Monday evening. “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. “In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving.” Kimmel went on to criticize President Donald Trump’s response to a reporter’s question regarding how he was doing after Kirk’s death: Trump barely answered the query, instead discussing the building of a new White House ballroom. “He’s at the fourth stage of grief: construction,” Kimmel joked. “This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he called a friend. This is how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish.”
Two days later, FCC chair and Trump appointee Brendan Carr threatened Kimmel and ABC, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company, while appearing on right-wing commentator Benny Johnson’s podcast, The Benny Show. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way…. This is a very, very serious issue right now for Disney,” Carr said. “These companies can find ways to change conduct, to take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.” That same Wednesday, ABC announced that Kimmel and his long-running late-night show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, had been suspended “indefinitely.”
Now, with the backing of celebrities like Natalie Portman, Alyssa Milano, and Annette Bening, the ACLU has delivered a message supporting Kimmel and defending free speech. “Last week, Jimmy Kimmel was taken off the air after the government threatened a private company with retaliation, marking a dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation,” reads the letter. “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. This runs counter to the values our nation was built upon, and our Constitution guarantees.”
The signees of the open letter represent a diverse cross section of the entertainment industry, including movie stars, Oscar winners, comedians, and theater professionals, as well as former and current Disney employees. Actor Kevin Bacon, as well as couple Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara, signed the letter, as did close friends of Kimmel’s, such as Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, and Bateman’s wife, Amanda Anka, who often share Sunday night dinners with Kimmel at Aniston’s home.
Tony-winning Broadway stars like Ben Platt, Adrienne Warren, Kelli O’Hara, Alan Cumming, and Jonathan Groff signed the letter. So did Lin-Manuel Miranda, who has collaborated with Disney multiple times on movies such as Moana, Encanto, and Hamilton, the filmed version of his founding father musical. Comedians like Broad City stars Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer, Joel Kim Booster, and Overcompensating’s Benito Skinner and Mary Beth Barone also signed the open letter. Though the letter does not mention Kirk by name, some celebrities who have publicly mourned the right-wing ideologue, including Debra Messing and Jamie Lee Curtis, have also signed the letter.
Former Disney employees Kerry Washington and Tony Goldwyn, who starred as Olivia Pope and President Fitzgerald Grant on ABC’s hit soap Scandal, signed the letter. So did Desperate Housewives star Marcia Cross and Modern Family’s Jesse Tyler Ferguson. None of their other main castmates seem to have joined in—but Ugly Betty star and Oscar nominee America Ferrera did. Gomez and Martin Short, who star on Only Murders in the Building, which airs on Disney-owned streaming service Hulu, also signed the letter—though Steve Martin, their costar, is absent.
The letter notes that the entertainment industry is only one sector that has been negatively affected by the government’s crackdown on free speech. It also purports that the effort is apolitical, urging Americans to come together “regardless of our political affiliation, or whether we engage in politics or not,” to support the First Amendment.
Curiously, none of the other major late-night hosts—Late Show’s Stephen Colbert, Last Week Tonight’s John Oliver, Late Night’s Seth Meyers, The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart, or The Tonight Show’s Jimmy Fallon—signed the letter. However, all of these hosts addressed Kimmel’s suspension on their own programs last week, with each showing support for their fallen comrade. While the list doesn’t feature Stewart’s name, it does include those of Daily Show correspondents Desi Lydic, Michael Kosta, and Ronny Chieng, as well as former Daily Show correspondent Roy Wood Jr. (Representatives for The Late Show, Last Week Tonight, Late Night, The Daily Show, and The Tonight Show did not immediately respond to Vanity Fair’s requests for comment.)
The ACLU letter ends with a call to action. “This is the moment to defend free speech across our nation. We encourage all Americans to join us, along with the ACLU, in the fight to defend and preserve our constitutionally protected rights,” it reads. After the list of signatures, there’s a link for others to add their name to the letter. As of publishing, the petition has nearly 25,000 signatures.
In the last week, Disney has faced widespread criticism for its decision to bench Kimmel. Emmy winner Damon Lindelof pledged not to work with ABC, where he cocreated the hit mystery program Lost, until the network reinstated Kimmel. “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 wrote on Instagram. Emmy winner and Marvel star Tatiana Maslany took to social media to urge people to stop paying for Disney+, sharing a photo of herself with the caption, “Cancel your @disneyplus @hulu @espn subscriptions!” Recent Emmy winner and fictional late-night host Jean Smart decried the situation on social media and also signed the ACLU pledge. “I am horrified at the cancellation of Jimmy Kimmel Live. What Jimmy said was FREE speech, not hate speech,” she wrote.
There have seemingly been financial repercussions for Disney in the wake of Kimmel’s suspension. Google Trends has showed an uptick in searches for the terms “cancel Disney Plus” and “boycott Disney”; the YouTube trailer for the upcoming Star Wars film The Mandalorian and Grogu, set to hit theaters on May 22, 2026, has been inundated with comments criticizing Disney, with many commenters pledging to cancel their Disney+ subscriptions. Disney adults and content creators have express disappointment with the company, while stars like *NSYNC band member Lance Bass, Transparent’s Amy Landecker, and actor Noah Centineo have shared screenshots showing that they canceled their Disney-related subscriptions.
Some stars are boycotting Disney in other ways. This weekend, musicians such as Sarah McLachlan and Jewel pulled out of performing at the premiere of the ABC News documentary Lilith Fair after Disney scrapped the event’s red carpet. Rather than playing music, McLachlan thanked the evening’s attendees and apologized for pulling out, saying that the artists chose to “stand in solidarity in support of free speech”—leading the crowd to erupt in applause.
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