By
Megan Cerullo
Megan Cerullo
Reporter, MoneyWatch
Megan Cerullo is a New York-based reporter for CBS MoneyWatch covering small business, workplace, health care, consumer spending and personal finance topics. She regularly appears on CBS News 24/7 to discuss her reporting.
September 19, 2025 / 4:02 PM EDT
/ CBS News
Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner is defending Jimmy Kimmel after the Disney-owned ABC network indefinitely suspended the late-night host from his show, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
“Where has all the leadership gone? If not for university presidents, law firm managing partners, and corporate chief executives standing up against bullies, who then will step up for the first amendment?” he said in a post on X Friday.
Eisner, who led Disney for more than two decades, spoke out two days after ABC confirmed to CBS News that it had suspended Kimmel indefinitely over remarks he made about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The network has not said if or when the show, which began airing in 2003, will return.
In his Monday monologue, Kimmel suggested that allies of President Trump were attempting to use Kirk’s assassination for political gain.
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr referred to Kimmel’s comments as “some of the sickest conduct possible,” and said there was a “path forward for suspension over this.”
Eisner made it clear he disagreed with ABC’s decision.
“The ‘suspending indefinitely’ of Jimmy Kimmel immediately after the Chairman of the FCC’s aggressive yet hollow threatening of the Disney Company is yet another example of out-of-control intimidation,” Eisner said.
He added, “Maybe the Constitution should have said, ‘Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, except in one’s political or financial self-interest.’ By-the-way, for the record, this ex-CEO finds Jimmy Kimmel very talented and funny.”
Eisner’s comments come after a wave of dismissals and other sanctions by companies against workers who’ve taken public positions on the matter of Kirk’s death.
Disney didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about Eisner’s remarks.
Megan Cerullo is a New York-based reporter for CBS MoneyWatch covering small business, workplace, health care, consumer spending and personal finance topics. She regularly appears on CBS News 24/7 to discuss her reporting.
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