John Oliver shared his thoughts on the Jimmy Kimmel suspension on Sunday’s (September 21) episode of HBO’s Last Week Tonight, where he encouraged viewers to cancel their Disney+ and Hulu subscriptions.
After calling the decision to suspend Jimmy Kimmel Live! a “clear case of the government trying to censor speech,” Oliver said that Disney and ABC should be standing by Kimmel in the face of government censorship. The comedian then noted there are ways viewers can “encourage them to do that.”
“You could exert pressure on them by canceling Disney+ or Hulu,” Oliver stated. “Google searches on that have skyrocketed in the past few days.”
Oliver’s comments come just days after She-Hulk (which streams on Disney+) star Tatiana Maslany encouraged her fans to do the same.
Kimmel was “suspended indefinitely” on Wednesday (September 17) over comments he made about Charlie Kirk‘s fatal shooting on Monday’s (September 15) Jimmy Kimmel Live. This came after powerful station group Nexstar announced it would preempt the show on its 32 ABC affiliate stations late Wednesday.
Earlier that day, Trump-appointed Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr told right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson, “We can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct and take actions on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
“ABC and its parent company Disney still have a chance to do the right thing here. I do get that the easier path for them right now is to keep him off the air and the administration off their back,” Oliver added on Sunday’s show. “Though, I will point out, that was the apparent argument for ABC paying Trump $15 million last year, and how did that work out for them?”
Oliver was referencing the December 2024 settlement over Trump’s defamation lawsuit against ABC News. “Giving the bully your lunch money doesn’t make him go away; it just makes him come back hungrier each time. They are never going to stop,” the comedian added, addressing Disney CEO Bob Iger. “At some point, you’re going to have to try to draw a line. Why not draw it right here?”
He continued, “And when they come to you with stupid ridiculous demands, picking fights that you know you could win in court instead of rolling over, why not stand up and use four key words they don’t tend to teach you in business school. Not ‘Okay, you’re the boss.’ Not ‘Whatever you say goes.’ But instead, the only phrase that can genuinely make a weak bully go away. And that is, ‘F*** you, make me.’”
You can watch the full segment in the video above and let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Sundays, 11/10c, HBO
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