Jimmy Kimmel Live was back again last night, after Kimmel returned from his network suspension on Tuesday. There honestly seems to be a different vibe with Jimmy Kimmel right now. Like, suspending him over a completely appropriate and accurate observation actually woke him up and made him more locked-in than ever. It was said that Kimmel was feeling sort of burned out, but now that Donald Trump is targeting him so heavily, Kimmel has a new lease on life. Here’s Kimmel’s opening monologue from last night:
He obviously feels like he has the greenlight to keep criticizing and making fun of Trump. Which is great, that he’s not pulling his punches. Kimmel’s comeback episode on Tuesday also had the best ratings he’s gotten in many years, even with Nexstar and Sinclair’s blackouts. CNN reports that Kimmel’s comeback show got 6.3 million broadcast viewers, meaning people actually watching it on television as it aired. The YouTube video of his Tuesday monologue has over 19.5 million views. As it turns out, Americans actually want late-night talk show hosts to be able to mock the president, and Americans vote with their wallets and their attention spans. Speaking of, Semafor had an interesting exclusive about Kimmel’s suspension and what happened behind-the-scenes at ABC/Disney. Disney shareholders are threatening to sue over Kimmel’s suspension.
A group of Disney shareholders are demanding that the company turn over documents related to its decision to briefly suspend late night host Jimmy Kimmel’s show last week.
In a letter to Disney first shared with Semafor, lawyers representing the American Federation of Teachers, Reporters Without Borders, Inc. and other groups, all of which say they are Disney shareholders, requested the Hollywood entertainment giant turn over board records related to Kimmel’s suspension.
The group criticized the decision to suspend the comedian after comments about the conservative reaction to the alleged shooter of Charlie Kirk, and said that investors were entitled to investigate whether the company’s leaders “did not properly discharge their fiduciary duties” in deciding to bench Kimmel amid threats from the FCC. The fallout, which sparked criticisms that Disney was caving on free-speech issues and drew some threats from Hollywood talent to stop working with the company, shaved more than $4 billion off its market value last week.
The group wants any materials that estimate the effect of Kimmel’s suspension on Disney’s revenue, as well as documents that lay out how executives are supposed to make decisions around “politically sensitive programming.” It also wants copies of Disney’s agreements with affiliate networks Nexstar and Sinclair, whose initial threats to black out Kimmel’s show appear to have sparked his suspension; emails between board members, including CEO Bob Iger; and any communications between the company and federal government or political organizations.
“Although we are pleased that ABC did the right thing and put Jimmy Kimmel back on the air last night, due to the Trump administration’s continued threats to free speech, including with respect to ABC, we are writing to seek transparency into the initial decision to suspend him and his show,” the letter said.
“There is a credible basis to suspect that the Board and executives may have breached their fiduciary duties of loyalty, care, and good faith by placing improper political or affiliate considerations above the best interests of the Company and its stockholders.”
This is a great angle to take, for shareholders to demand that a huge, publicly-traded company actually grow a set and stand up for American values AND stand up for good business. Once again, what has happened over the past nine days would be completely different if consumers didn’t immediately drop their Disney, Hulu and ESPN subscriptions. Artists immediately began boycotting Disney and publicly expressing their displeasure, which also affected Disney’s bottom line. Disney’s shareholders absolutely deserve answers here.
Photos courtesy of ABC/Disney and Avalon Red.
