Disney investors demand details into company’s Jimmy Kimmel suspension
A group of Disney investors is asking the company to turn over documents related to the company’s decision to temporarily suspend Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show, amid charges the media company may have been “complicit in succumbing” to media censorship.
The investors, composed of lawyers for the American Federation of Teachers and Reporters Without Borders, noted that Disney’s stock “suffered significant declines in response to the company’s abrupt decision to suspend Mr. Kimmel and his show”, it said in a letter to Disney.
“The fallout from suspending Jimmy Kimmel Live! sparked criticism as an attack on free speech, triggered boycotts and union support for Mr. Kimmel, and caused Disney’s stock to plummet amid fears of brand damage and concerns that Disney was complicit in succumbing to the government overreach and media censorship,” the letter said.
The lawyers are demanding “copies of any meeting minutes, meeting agenda and written materials provided to the [company’s] board or presented at any meeting of the board” regarding Kimmel’s decision. It cites a law in Delaware, where Disney is incorporated, that says shareholders can receive materials around board discussion “to investigate potential wrongdoing, mismanagement and breach of fiduciary duty by members [of the board]”.
Disney did not immediately respond to requests for comments.
The company first suspended Kimmel’s show “indefinitely” on 17 September, after the network aired comments Kimmel made about Charlie Kirk’s killing saying “the Maga gang [is] 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”.
The next day, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair, Brendan Carr, criticized Kimmel’s comments and said that the regulatory agency would be willing to throw its weight behind making sure the companies airing Kimmel’s show are held accountable.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said. “These companies can find ways to change conduct to take action on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
Soon after, Nexstar Media Group, a major owner of ABC affiliates, announced it would preempt Kimmel’s show, calling Kimmel’s comments “offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse”. Nexstar is seeking FCC approval for a $6.2bn merger with Tegna, another major TV station owner.
After Nexstar’s announcement, ABC, which is owned by Disney, announced it would halt Kimmel’s show “indefinitely” without further explanation. A few days later, ABC said the show would return Tuesday night. Nexstar and Sinclair Broadcast Group, another major owner of ABC affiliates, said they would continue to preempt the show, which amounts to a Kimmel blackout for 25% of TV audiences.
At this unsettling time
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you close this tab, we want to ask if you could support the Guardian at this crucial time for journalism in the US.
Not all journalism is the same. At the Guardian, we see it as our job not only to report the facts as we find them, but to give you the whole picture. Never sanitized or censored, our reporting provides the historical and global context necessary to fully understand the turbulent times in which we’re living.
As we witness the erosion of democratic norms and political stability in our country – with heightened violence and division, troops on city streets, attacks on academia and science, and disregard for the rule of law – the role of the press as an engine of scrutiny, truth and accountability becomes increasingly important.
At the Guardian, we proudly platform voices of dissent, and we are fearless when it comes to investigating corruption and challenging power. We don’t have a single viewpoint, but we do have a shared set of values: humanity, curiosity and honesty guide us, and our work is rooted in solidarity with ordinary people and hope for our shared future.
Not every news organization sees its mission this way – and nor is their editorial independence as ironclad as ours. In the past year, several large US media outlets have caved to outside pressure at the behest of their corporate and billionaire owners. We are thankful the Guardian is different.
Our only financial obligation is to fund independent journalism in perpetuity: we have no ultrarich owner, no shareholders, no corporate bosses with the power to overrule or influence our editorial decisions. Reader support is what guarantees our survival and safeguards our independence – and every cent we receive is reinvested in our work.
It has never been more urgent, or more perilous, to pursue reporting in the US that holds power to account and counters the spread of misinformation – and at the Guardian we make our journalism free and accessible to all.