More than 400 celebrities have signed an open letter with the American Civil Liberties Union criticizing ABC’s suspension of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” over comments the late-night host made about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
“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 letter, which was published on Monday, begins. “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.”
Among the Hollywood stars who signed the open letter are Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Bacon, Robert De Niro, Selena Gomez, Tom Hanks, Olivia Rodrigo, Ben Stiller, Jamie Lee Curtis, Bryan Cranston, Natalie Portman and Pedro Pascal.
“Regardless of our political affiliation, or whether we engage in politics or not, we all love our country,” the letter continues. “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.”
ABC’s decision to suspend Kimmel last week followed this comment the host made about political reaction to Kirk’s shooting during his Monday monologue:
“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang 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.”
Two days later, FCC Chair Brendan Carr threatened regulatory action against ABC and its parent company, Disney, calling Kimmel’s comments “truly sick.”
Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcast Group then announced they were dropping “Jimmy Kimmel Live” from their ABC-affiliated stations, which was followed by ABC suspending the show indefinitely.
Nexstar is the parent company of KTLA.
In its statement, Nexstar said Kimmel’s comments about Kirk were “offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse” and does not reflect “the spectrum of opinions, views, or values of the local communities in which we are located.”
Nexstar announced this past August that it had entered into an agreement to acquire rival broadcast company Tegna for $6.2 billion. This merger would require FCC approval.
The open letter comes as other demonstrations in support of Kimmel continue. Thousands of social media users have pledged to cancel their Disney+ subscriptions, while on Thursday, demonstrators gathered outside Kimmel’s Hollywood studio and the Walt Disney Studio Lot in Burbank to protest the suspension.
Disney announced Monday that the show will be coming back on Tueday.
“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. 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,” The Walt Disney Co. said in a statement.