\n<\/p>\n
The Mickey Mouse logo is all over Walt Disney\u2019s headquarters in Burbank, California. But on Thursday, those famous ears were also on display outside the studio on protest signs, including one labeling Disney executives as \u201ccowards\u201d for suspending Jimmy Kimmel\u2019s late-night talkshow in response to pressure from the Trump administration.<\/p>\n
Disney, which owns ABC, \u201cindefinitely\u201d suspended Kimmel\u2019s show on Wednesday night, following threatening remarks by Trump\u2019s Federal Communications Commission chair, Brendan Carr, about possible regulatory consequences for comments Kimmel made about Trump and the Maga movement\u2019s response to Charlie Kirk\u2019s killing.<\/p>\n
As many Americans condemned the incident as a blatant government attack on free speech, others attacked Disney and its CEO, Bob Iger, for what they saw as a swift capitulation to the Trump administration\u2019s demand that they censor a prominent comedian.<\/p>\n
<\/span>A demonstration in response to the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel\u2019s show.<\/span> Photograph: Jae C Hong\/AP<\/p>\n As calls grew for boycotts against Disney and other companies involved in removing Kimmel from the air, an estimated 200 to 300 people protested outside Disney\u2019s headquarters in Burbank on Thursday afternoon, in a demonstration that had been promoted by the Hollywood writers\u2019 union, the Writers Guild of America, calling on ABC to \u201cBring Back Jimmy Kimmel Live!\u201d<\/p>\n Another 100 people demonstrated outside ABC\u2019s studios in New York, Variety reported, where the crowd chanted \u201cun-American\u201d and \u201cKimmel must stay, Iger must go\u201d.<\/p>\n At a third protest, outside the Hollywood studio that hosts Kimmel\u2019s show, protesters chanted \u201cDown with the FCC\u201d and \u201cABC bent the knee\u201d, Variety reported.<\/p>\n <\/span>Hundreds protested outside Disney\u2019s headquarters in Burbank on Thursday.<\/span> Photograph: Jae C Hong\/AP<\/span>Black tape crosses out Mickey Mouse on a T-shirt.<\/span> Photograph: Jae C Hong\/AP<\/p>\n \u201cThe right to speak our minds and to disagree with each other \u2013 to disturb, even \u2013 is at the very heart of what it means to be a free people. It is not to be denied. Not by violence, not by the abuse of governmental power, nor by acts of corporate cowardice,\u201d the WGA had said in a statement to the Hollywood Reporter condemning the show\u2019s suspension.<\/p>\n The Writers Guild of America West shared images of protesters holding signs in Burbank demanding Kimmel\u2019s reinstatement and criticizing the violation of free speech rights.<\/p>\n One demonstrator held a poster that read \u201cNo bread and no circus?\u201d \u2013 an apparent reference to the Trump administration going after a popular entertainer as polls show Americans are also struggling with what they see as rising prices and a struggling economy.<\/p>\n Multiple protesters held signs noting that the controversy was reminiscent of the plot of one of Disney\u2019s new Star Wars spinoff shows, Andor, which focuses on the fight against authoritarianism.<\/p>\n <\/span>Outside the Disney headquarters in Burbank. <\/span> Photograph: Jae C Hong\/AP<\/p>\n \u201cI believe that Disney and ABC are 100% responsible. They gave zero pushback,\u201d Konstantine Anthony, a city council member from Burbank, told the Hollywood Reporter, which noted Anthony was carrying a sign that read: \u201cDid you even watch Andor?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe want Jimmy Kimmel back on the air and we will keep speaking up and putting pressure in any way we can until that happens,\u201d the Writers Guild of America West president, Meredith Stiehm, told the Hollywood Reporter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Mickey Mouse logo is all over Walt Disney\u2019s headquarters in Burbank, California. But on Thursday, those famous ears were also on display outside the studio on protest signs, including one labeling Disney executives as \u201ccowards\u201d for suspending Jimmy Kimmel\u2019s late-night talkshow in response to pressure from the Trump administration. Disney, which owns ABC, \u201cindefinitely\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22707,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[3422,3707,2160,441,3421,560,4594,13924],"class_list":{"0":"post-22706","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-angeles","9":"tag-disney","10":"tag-hundreds","11":"tag-kimmel","12":"tag-los","13":"tag-protest","14":"tag-suspension","15":"tag-unamerican"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22706\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}