Kimmel, Iger, and the Culture of Capitulation

jimmy kimmel
So today inside Disney has basically been about, How do we bring Kimmel back—and is that even possible, given the affiliate revolt after F.C.C. Chair Brendan Carr put the company on blast? Photo: Randy Holmes/Courtesy of Disney
Matthew Belloni
&
Kim Masters
September 19, 2025

A meeting this afternoon at a Century City law office between ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel and Disney’s top TV executive, Dana Walden, ended without a resolution of the standoff that has engulfed both sides in one of the rare Hollywood political and business blow-ups that makes headlines worldwide. Disney suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! after its host refused to tone down a planned response to the backlash over his Monday comment that “the MAGA gang” was trying to characterize the alleged shooter of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk as “anything other than one of them.” Trump’s F.C.C. quickly pounced, as did two ABC-affiliated station groups, and Disney benched the show to try to figure out a path back that will satisfy the government, the station groups and advertisers that want to appease the government, and both its star host and the creative community that has revolted in anger at the infringement on free speech.