- Disney is counting the cost of its week-long suspension of US talk show host Jimmy Kimmel
- The entertainment giant reportedly lost 1.7 million users while he was off air
- Furious fans closed their Disney+, Hulu and ESPN accounts amid the row
Disney has seemingly felt the full force of fan power after millions of people canceled their streaming subscriptions amid the Jimmy Kimmel saga.
Yesterday (September 29), a new report from freelance journalist Marisa Kabas, who owns and runs The Handbasket newsletter, appeared to lay bare the cost of the US TV talk show host’s week-long suspension.
For those who might have missed one of the biggest entertainment stories of recent times: on September 17, Kimmel, who hosts Jimmy Kimmel Live!, was removed from public view for comments he made about Charlie Kirk during the September 15 edition of his talk show. The controversial political activist was assassinated during a visit to Utah Valley University on September 10.
Amid the furious backlash to Kimmel’s temporary sacking, angry Disney+ and Hulu users voted with their wallets and canceled their subscriptions to help force Disney to reinstate the popular entertainer. Almost one week after Kimmel was stood down from presenting duties, and amid mounting pressure from Hollywood stars and Disney shareholders, Disney reinstated the veteran TV personality.
SCOOP / UPDATE — Disney saw more than 1.7 million total paid streaming cancelations during the period 9/17-9/23, a Disney source confirms to me. The total includes Disney+, Hulu and ESPN.
— @marisakabas.bsky.social (@marisakabas.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2025-09-30T09:42:18.209Z
The full impact of that cancellation campaign has emerged in the wake of the Kimmel saga. Taking to BlueSky yesterday (September 29), Kabas suggested 1.7 million people canceled their Disney+, Hulu and ESPN subscriptions after Kimmel was temporarily pulled off the air. That’s 700,000 more users than Kabas previously reported in the September 23, 2025 edition of her online newsletter.
That near-two million figure might seem like a drop in the ocean for a titan like Disney. After all, as of August 2025 when Disney released its Q3 2025 earning report, it had a combined total of 207.4 million users across Disney+, Hulu and ESPN.
The context of this 1.7 million drop, though, is hugely significant. That’s because, according to Kabas’ source, Disney reportedly lost that many subscribers in the seven-day period running September 17 to 23.
To further highlight the effect that this mass exodus appears to have had, Reddit users have pointed at the impact on Disney’s finances. If, as some commenters have suggested, those 1.7 million people were signed up to the cheapest Disney+ tier – i.e. the ad-supported option – Disney just reduced its guaranteed monthly income by $17 million.
Of course, the situation may be more fraught than that. Some of those who walked away from some of the world’s best streaming services would’ve been subscribed to each platform’s more expensive ad-free tiers, or even one of Disney’s cost-saving mega-bundles. It’s possible, then, that the entertainment behemoth will have lost even more money than many realize.
Disney’s problems are far from over, too. Per Deadline, raging shareholders continue to demand answers over the company’s handling of the Kimmel situation, with some even apparently preparing to mount a legal challenge over a sharp downturn in the value of their shares following the row.
Meanwhile, the price of every Disney+ and Hulu tier is set to rise again from October 21, which could lead to further subscription cancellations. Indeed, some users might consider the now-annual price hikes to be too much for them and opt to close their accounts amid soaring streaming service costs.
It would be fascinating to learn how many subscribers Disney lost across the board when its Q4 2025 earnings are released. Unfortunately, the company will no longer release that data publicly (per Variety), so we’ll never know just how hard it was hit over the media storm that enveloped it and Jimmy Kimmel.
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tom.power@futurenet.com (Tom Power)
