Jennifer Aniston, Ben Affleck and hundreds of other celebrities joined together to condemn ABC’s decision to “indefinitely” suspend Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show following his remarks about Charlie Kirk.
The A-listers signed a letter penned by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Monday, just hours before it was announced Kimmel’s show is returning this week, calling for the protection of the “constitutional right to free speech.”
“We the people must never accept government threats to our freedom of speech,” the letter read. “Efforts by leaders to pressure artists, journalists, and companies with retaliation for their speech strike at the heart of what it means to live in a free country.”
“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,” the ACLU continued.
“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 ACLU claimed that “teachers, government employees, law firms, researchers, universities, students and so many more are also facing direct attacks on their freedom of expression.”
The letter stated that “voices should never be silenced by those in power,” no matter a person’s “political affiliation, or whether [they] engage in politics or not.”
“Because if it happens to one of us, it happens to all of us,” the letter reads.
The letter concluded with a call for Americans to “fight to defend and preserve [their] constitutionally protected rights.”
“In solidarity” was written at the end of the statement, and more than 400 celebrities joined in signing the letter, including Selena Gomez, Natalie Portman and Meryl Streep.
Tom Hanks, Rosie O’Donnell, Pedro Pascal, Olivia Rodrigo and Jamie Lee Curtis were also listed.
Later on Monday, Disney announced Kimmel’s show will return on Tuesday night.
“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,” the company announced in a statement. “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.”
ABC pulled Kimmel’s show, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on Sept. 15 after his remarks about Kirk, who died by gunfire while at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10.
While the TV host, 57, initially offered his condolences to Kirk’s family via social media, he later commented on how “the MAGA gang” was “trying to characterize this kid who killed Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them.”
Kimmel was ordered to apologize and donate to Kirk’s family and Turning Point USA for his suspension to be lifted, though it’s unclear if he will do that on Tuesday’s show.
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