- Disney+ and Hulu users are closing their accounts over Disney’s handling of the Jimmy Kimmel Live saga
- The US talk show host’s program was indefinitely suspended over comments he made about Charlie Kirk
- The conservative political activist was assassinated on September 10 in Utah
Disney is facing a major backlash from Disney+ and Hulu users over the indefinite suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! and its host.
In recent days, swathes of the entertainment behemoth’s fanbase have taken to social media to express their disgust over Disney’s handling of the situation. And, in a bid to make the Hollywood institution sit up and take notice, many have not only confirmed they’ve cancelled their subscriptions to two of the world’s best streaming services, but have called on others to do the same.
Kimmel, whose late-night talk show has run for nearly 24 seasons since its January 2003 debut, was pulled off the air on Monday, September 15 for comments he made about political activist Charlie Kirk. The outspoken conservative was assassinated during an event at Utah Valley University on September 10.
In the wake of Kimmel’s comments, Brendan Carr, chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), threatened that ABC would face regulatory consequences if it didn’t act. In the hours that followed Carr’s warning, two of ABC’s largest affiliates in Nexstar and Sinclair confirmed that they’d stop broadcasting Kimmel’s show. By the evening of September 15, ABC announced that Kimmel’s hosting privileges had been “indefinitely” removed.
Amid the wider political and cultural fallout around the freedom of the press, and of free speech itself, numerous Hollywood creatives have chastised Disney, ABC, Nexstar, and Sinclair for appearing to bend the knee to the FCC and, by proxy, the Trump administration.
Per The Washington Post, a host of actors, directors, and producers have expressed outrage over the suspension of Kimmel and his show. Going one step further, Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof took to Instagram on Thursday, September 18 (as reported by The Wrap) to state he wouldn’t work for Disney or its subsidiaries again until Kimmel was reinstated.
Tatiana Maslany, star of Marvel TV show She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, which aired exclusively on Disney+ in mid-2022, though, has arguably been the most vocal critic. Posting on her Instagram story on Thursday (thanks to X/Twitter for the screenshot), Maslany called on her 500,000 followers to boycott Disney-owned streaming platforms in a bid to force the entertainment giant to walk back its decision.
Tatiana Maslany has urged her fans to cancel their Disney subscriptions after the studio suspended Jimmy Kimmel’s show. pic.twitter.com/URfe8RNJVKSeptember 18, 2025
And that’s what some of Maslany’s fans, plus many other furious subscribers, have done since the saga began.
Threads on Reddit pages, such as r/television and r/entertainment – these are just two of numerous threads on these sub-Reddits – are littered with comments from irate users who’ve said they’ve closed their accounts or plan on cancelling their subscriptions in the near future. That includes people who were signed up to Disney+ and Hulu, plus other services that require a subscription to use, such as National Geographic, ESPN, and FX Now.
Some are even going as far as to say they’ll boycott other Disney-owned properties, too, including Disneyland resorts, Disney Cruise Liners, and the company’s merchandise.
Reddit isn’t the only place people are threatening to boycott Disney in the immediate and long term, either. Users on X/Twitter, Instagram, and the ResetEra forums are doing exactly that.
According to one Redditor (see the embedded post below), who says they used to work for Disney, there’s a way to cancel your Disney+ subscription that’ll have a greater impact on the company than just closing your account via online means, too.
Understandably, the big question is: will any of this work?
At the last count in June, Disney’s combined subscriber figure for Disney+ and Hulu sat at 183 million. Obvious as it is to say, that’s a huge number so, unless tens of millions of users close their accounts, it’s unlikely that this boycott will significantly impact Disney’s revenue streams.
Per a September 18 report by Bloomberg, Disney executives are due to meet Kimmel to discuss his and his show’s futures in the near future. If a compromise can’t be reached, it’s possible that more subscribers could walk away from Disney+ and its sibling platforms. Whether it’ll be a big enough number to make Disney sit up and take notice, though, remains to be seen.
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tom.power@futurenet.com (Tom Power)
