In Solidarity

 

The Trump regime’s campaign of authoritarian repression took a major step forward this week with the indefinite suspension of Jimmy Kimmel. Like a third-rate mob boss, Trump’s Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair issued a public threat to “take action” against stations airing Jimmy Kimmel for a joke that offended the regime. His actual words: “We can do this the easy way, or the hard way.” Within hours, ABC/Disney execs (specifically, CEO Bob Iger) chose what they thought was the easy way. They silenced Kimmel because they believe caving to authoritarian censorship is best for their bottom line.  It’s on us to prove them wrong and show there’s a price to sacrificing our First Amendment rights at the altar of corporate profit. Let’s dig a little deeper into the greed, corruption, and cowardice at play here -- and then let’s get to work protecting our First Amendment rights. That means boycotts, protests, and demands of our representatives. More on that below. The state of play Trump and his cronies are rapidly working to consolidate power and use the full might of the federal government to squash peaceful dissent -- bending media companies, business leaders, universities, and so many other institutions to Trump’s will. Silencing Kimmel is just one example of how our institutions are putting their own shortsighted self-interest first and choosing to give in to fascism instead of fighting back. Here’s a brief review of how we got here: December 2024: ABC/Disney caves to a frivolous defamation lawsuit by Trump, paying $15 million to his presidential library rather than going to court to defend the freedom of the press. July 17: CBS announces that it will cancel the late-night show of Trump critic Stephen Colbert. The move comes as CBS’ parent company, Paramount, awaits FCC approval of an $8 billion merger. July 18: Trump takes to Truth Social to post that “Jimmy Kimmel is next.” July 24: The FCC approves Paramount’s merger just one week after Colbert’s cancellation. September 10: Charlie Kirk is murdered. Trump administration officials and other Republican leaders begin calling for a massive crackdown on the left. September 15: In his show’s opening monologue, Kimmel notes that Trump and his allies are “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." September 17 (morning): In an interview on a far-right podcast, FCC Chair Brendan Carr openly threatens to revoke the broadcast license of any stations airing Kimmel’s show. September 17 (afternoon): Within hours of Carr’s threat, Nexstar Media Group -- a TV conglomerate that (like Paramount) wants FCC approval of a merger -- says its local ABC affiliates will not air Kimmel's show. Another TV conglomerate with FCC business pending, Sinclair Media Group, rapidly follows suit. September 17 (evening): ABC/Disney announce that they are pulling Kimmel's show off the air entirely. Appeasing a tyrant only leads to more tyranny. If ABC/Disney refuses to reverse their decision, the regime will only become more emboldened to target comedy, opinion, and even news they don’t like. None of us will be free to dissent. None of us will be able to speak our minds. How we’ll fight back We need to pressure ABC/Disney to reinstate Kimmel’s program, cease their political collusion with Trump and his FCC lapdogs, and commit to defending free speech. That means fighting back with our voices and our wallets -- because no wannabe king can match the power we wield when millions of us take action together. Here are some things you can do right now: ❌ Cancel your Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ subscriptions until Jimmy Kimmel Live! is reinstated. Then, use the customizable sample posts in our social toolkit (or create your own!) to let Disney and your network know with the hashtag #BoycottDisneyABC. 💬 Use this contact form to send a message to ABC/Disney that we won’t stand for cowardice and corruption. If you’re canceling Disney services, postponing a vacation to a Disney theme park, or taking some other action in response to their corporate cravenness, let them know. 🔥 Email your representative to demand an investigation into government censorship. Carr’s threats may violate the First Amendment and other federal law, but an attempt to subpoena Carr is being blocked. Let’s turn the heat up to demand that Carr, ABC/Disney execs, and their partners be hauled before Congress to testify under oath. 📣 Protest in person. We’ve already heard of dozens of locally led events popping up outside ABC/Disney offices and studios across the country. Get out to one if you can, and make a plan to join us on No Kings Day, as well. We’re working with partners nationwide to plan additional actions that push ABC/Disney towards putting free speech over the whims of a wannabe king. We’ll share those as they develop, but for now, let’s use our voices, our dollars, and our peoplepower to show Disney that they’re standing on the wrong side of history. In solidarity, Indivisible Team P.S. Boycotts like this one are most effective when we move swiftly and uniformly to take our business elsewhere. Please take a moment to cancel that subscription right now, and then forward this email to other folks, especially Disney+/Hulu subscribers, who may join our efforts. Indivisible Project is a locally led, people-powered movement of thousands of local groups in red, blue, and purple states, and in urban, suburban, and rural areas. Our mission is to power and lift up a grassroots movement of local groups to defeat the Trump agenda, elect progressive leaders, and realize bold progressive policies