Activist Headquarters
Related: About this forumBoycott Disney. Reinstate Jimmy Kimmel. ( Indivisible )
Also posted in GD for visibility.
From an email. Access it here.
https://indivisible.actionkit.com/mailings/view/120644
FOR ACTION LINKS.
When it says "forward this email," share this web page, or just the URL.
The Trump regimes campaign of authoritarian repression took a major step forward this week with the indefinite suspension of Jimmy Kimmel.
Like a third-rate mob boss, Trumps Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair issued a public threat to take action against stations airing Jimmy Kimmel for a joke that offended the regime. His actual words: We can do this the easy way, or the hard way.
Within hours, ABC/Disney execs (specifically, CEO Bob Iger) chose what they thought was the easy way. They silenced Kimmel because they believe caving to authoritarian censorship is best for their bottom line. Its on us to prove them wrong and show theres a price to sacrificing our First Amendment rights at the altar of corporate profit.
Lets dig a little deeper into the greed, corruption, and cowardice at play here -- and then lets get to work protecting our First Amendment rights. That means boycotts, protests, and demands of our representatives. More on that below.
The state of play
Trump and his cronies are rapidly working to consolidate power and use the full might of the federal government to squash peaceful dissent -- bending media companies, business leaders, universities, and so many other institutions to Trumps will.
Silencing Kimmel is just one example of how our institutions are putting their own shortsighted self-interest first and choosing to give in to fascism instead of fighting back. Heres a brief review of how we got here:
December 2024: ABC/Disney caves to a frivolous defamation lawsuit by Trump, paying $15 million to his presidential library rather than going to court to defend the freedom of the press.
July 17: CBS announces that it will cancel the late-night show of Trump critic Stephen Colbert. The move comes as CBS parent company, Paramount, awaits FCC approval of an $8 billion merger.
July 18: Trump takes to Truth Social to post that Jimmy Kimmel is next.
July 24: The FCC approves Paramounts merger just one week after Colberts cancellation.
September 10: Charlie Kirk is murdered. Trump administration officials and other Republican leaders begin calling for a massive crackdown on the left.
September 15: In his shows opening monologue, Kimmel notes that Trump and his allies are 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."
September 17 (morning): In an interview on a far-right podcast, FCC Chair Brendan Carr openly threatens to revoke the broadcast license of any stations airing Kimmels show.
September 17 (afternoon): Within hours of Carrs threat, Nexstar Media Group -- a TV conglomerate that (like Paramount) wants FCC approval of a merger -- says its local ABC affiliates will not air Kimmel's show. Another TV conglomerate with FCC business pending, Sinclair Media Group, rapidly follows suit.
September 17 (evening): ABC/Disney announce that they are pulling Kimmel's show off the air entirely.
Appeasing a tyrant only leads to more tyranny. If ABC/Disney refuses to reverse their decision, the regime will only become more emboldened to target comedy, opinion, and even news they dont like. None of us will be free to dissent. None of us will be able to speak our minds.
How well fight back
We need to pressure ABC/Disney to reinstate Kimmels program, cease their political collusion with Trump and his FCC lapdogs, and commit to defending free speech.
That means fighting back with our voices and our wallets -- because no wannabe king can match the power we wield when millions of us take action together. Here are some things you can do right now:
❌ Cancel your Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ subscriptions until Jimmy Kimmel Live! is reinstated. Then, use the customizable sample posts in our social toolkit (or create your own!) to let Disney and your network know with the hashtag #BoycottDisneyABC.
💬 Use this contact form to send a message to ABC/Disney that we wont stand for cowardice and corruption. If youre canceling Disney services, postponing a vacation to a Disney theme park, or taking some other action in response to their corporate cravenness, let them know.
🔥 Email your representative to demand an investigation into government censorship. Carrs threats may violate the First Amendment and other federal law, but an attempt to subpoena Carr is being blocked. Lets turn the heat up to demand that Carr, ABC/Disney execs, and their partners be hauled before Congress to testify under oath.
📣 Protest in person. Weve already heard of dozens of locally led events popping up outside ABC/Disney offices and studios across the country. Get out to one if you can, and make a plan to join us on No Kings Day, as well.
Were working with partners nationwide to plan additional actions that push ABC/Disney towards putting free speech over the whims of a wannabe king.
Well share those as they develop, but for now, lets use our voices, our dollars, and our people-power to show Disney that theyre standing on the wrong side of history.
In solidarity,
Indivisible Team
P.S. Boycotts like this one are most effective when we move swiftly and uniformly to take our business elsewhere. Please take a moment to cancel that subscription right now, and then forward this email to other folks, especially Disney+/Hulu subscribers, who may join our efforts.

proud patriot
(102,258 posts)I'm a HUGE star wars fan . I sure hope they do the right thing
SheltieLover
(73,720 posts)I have no tv subscriptions, so nothing to cancel.
usonian
(20,583 posts)Even if temporary.
SheltieLover
(73,720 posts)
usonian
(20,583 posts)"The old fashioned way"
And then it's off for the rest of the week.
SheltieLover
(73,720 posts)
I refuse to subscribe to any of that crap. It kills me how people celebrated the demise of cable, only to spend more on "subscriptions"
usonian
(20,583 posts)Cory Doctorow.
https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/30/go-nuts-meine-kerle/
Skittles
(167,495 posts)people literally pay to avoid them, but then watch "influencers" - OMFG
omfg - it's the EXACT description!
enshittification, also known as crapification and platform decay, is a pattern in which two-sided online products and services decline in quality over time. Initially, vendors create high-quality offerings to attract users, then they degrade those offerings to better serve business customers, and finally degrade their services to users and business customers to maximize profits for shareholders. Canadian writer Cory Doctorow coined the neologism enshittification in November 2022, though he was not the first to describe and label the concept
usonian
(20,583 posts)Skittles
(167,495 posts)wow people are soooo easily manipulated but then, Trump as "president" is proof of that
hey I see there's a book Enshittification coming out - I just may read that
Response to usonian (Reply #10)
Skittles This message was self-deleted by its author.