Hollywood artists sign petition against Trump administration for ‘heavy-handed censorship’ in taking Jimmy Kimmel off air

ABC’s sudden cancellation of Jimmy Kimmel Live! last Wednesday has sparked a wave of unrest in the American cultural and social world. This past weekend, conversations on the streets, in restaurants, and in groups of friends revolved around the issue. And it wasn’t just citizens who were shocked by the suspension of Kimmel’s long-running show, after 22 years on the air. Many well-known figures have complained publicly and privately, with gestures such as canceling their Disney+ accounts, since ABC belongs to the Disney brand. This Monday, more than 400 artists went a step further and signed a letter in collaboration with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) protesting the audiovisual conglomerate’s decision.

Well-known industry figures such as Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jane Fonda, Martin Short, Selena Gomez, Robert De Niro, Ben Affleck, Pedro Pascal, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Diego Luna, Regina King, Jason Bateman, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Nathan Lane, and Ariana DeBose, among others, have joined the campaign launched by the renowned non-profit organization that seeks to protect the country’s constitutional and human rights. They lamented the suspension of Kimmel’s show and compared the situation to the witch hunts carried out by Senator Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s.

The letter itself was drafted by the ACLU, specifically by its executive director, Anthony D. Romero. It opens with the same three words as the U.S. Constitution: “We the People.”

“We the people must never accept government threats to our freedom of speech,” begins the letter, which by Monday morning had more than 23,000 signatures. “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.”

The letter asserts that the suspension of Kimmel’s show — following a comment by the comedian about Charlie Kirk, the ultra-conservative youth leader assassinated on September 10 — occurred “after the government threatened a private company with retaliation, marking a dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation.”

“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.” In fact, the ACLU affirmed that people in the cultural world are not the only ones in danger, and that these threats are hovering over “teachers, government employees, law firms, researchers, universities, students and so many more.”

Romero stated: “We now find ourselves in a modern McCarthy era, facing exactly the type of heavy-handed government censorship our Constitution rightfully forbids. The silencing of Jimmy Kimmel and jawboning of media outlets through lawsuits and threats to their licenses evoke dark memories of the 1950s. We must remember, however, that Senator McCarthy was ultimately disgraced and neutralized once Americans mobilized and stood up to him. We must do the same today because, together, our voices are louder and, together, we will fight to be heard.”

“Regardless of our political affiliation, or whether we engage in politics or not, we all love our country,” the letter states. “We also share the belief that our voices should never be silenced by those in power — because if it happens to one of us, it happens to all of us. 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.”

Since last week, the protest has become a clamor. Kimmel’s colleagues, from Jimmy Fallon to Seth Meyers, Jon Stewart, and the also-suspended Stephen Colbert, have all raised their voices with humor and irony against the veteran New Yorker’s cancelation. Last weekend, well-known figures in American culture such as host Howard Stern and actress Cynthia Nixon announced they were canceling their subscriptions to the Disney+ platform in protest. Outside the entertainment company’s headquarters in Burbank, north of Los Angeles, California, dozens of people also demonstrated in protest of the cancelation of Kimmel’s show.

On Sunday, Hillary Clinton posted a message on her X account in which she noted that Kimmel and other late-night comedians had at times said things about her that she found “ offensive, even outrageous.” She added: “But it never crossed my mind to call up the networks and say, ‘Hey, get rid of this guy.’ Because that’s not how America works.”

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