'Where has all the leadership gone?': Former Disney CEO calls out Jimmy Kimmel suspension Anthony Robledo, USA TODAY September 20, 2025 at 3:44 AM 0 Former Disney chief executive Michael Eisner had some negative feedback for his successor Bob Iger after ABC announced it would to suspend "Jimmy Kimme...
- - 'Where has all the leadership gone?': Former Disney CEO calls out Jimmy Kimmel suspension
Anthony Robledo, USA TODAY September 20, 2025 at 3:44 AM
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Former Disney chief executive Michael Eisner had some negative feedback for his successor Bob Iger after ABC announced it would to suspend "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" indefinitely following pushback from the Federal Communications Commission.
Eisner, who served as CEO between 1984 to 2005, criticized the Walt Disney-owned network's shock move Wednesday, Sept 17 to halt Jimmy Kimmel's talk-show.
The decision to pull the series from airwaves came after Nexstar Media revealed it would stop airing episodes across its ABC affiliate stations and after Trump-appointed FCC Chairman Brendan Carr seemingly threatened ABC, Disney and Kimmel. Carr and Nexstar Media as well as the Sinclair Broadcast Group all condemmed comments Kimmel made on a Monday, Sept. 15 episode regarding the fatal shooting of Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk.
"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?" Eisner wrote on X Friday, Sept. 19. "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."
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.'"
Eisner's defense of the "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" host also came with a compliment with him writing "By-the-way, for the record, this ex-CEO finds Jimmy Kimmel very talented and funny."
The suspension comes as Nexstar Media Group nears the end of a $6.2 billion merger with Tegna, another media company, that will require FCC approval.
The merger between Tegna and one of the largest local TV operators nationwide has prompted monopoly concerns, as the deal could increase Nexstar's local TV ownership to more than 39% of US households, Business Insider reported.
1 / 17Protesters rally in support of Jimmy KimmelPeople participate in a protest, organized by the Writers Guild of America East, against ABC's decision to suspend Jimmy Kimmel from his late night show on Sept. 19, 2025 in New York City. ABC suspended Kimmel over comments he made about Charlie Kirk's shooting.
Iger, who served as Disney CEO from 2005 to 2020 and then again since 2022, has not publicly commented on the show's suspension.
Since Wednesday, protests in support of Kimmel have emerged from New York City to California, including Hollywood and Burbank, where Walt Disney Studios is located.
Demonstrators are largely calling out the suspension for what critics argue is an infringement on freedom of speech. On social media, people have posted photos of them canceling their subscriptions to streaming services Disney Plus and Hulu in support of Kimmel.
Contributing: Taylor Seely and Angele Latham, USA TODAY NETWORK
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Out-of-control': Former Disney CEO calls out Jimmy Kimmel suspension
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