Jimmy Kimmel
Jimmy Kimmel Live on YouTube
Robert De Niro, Tom Hanks, and Jennifer Aniston are among 400 celebrities who signed an open letter from the American Civil Liberties Union denouncing ABC’s decision to suspend late-night host Jimmy Kimmel.
The letter, published on Monday morning, ripped President Donald Trump and his administration without naming him specifically. President Trump’s “government threatened a private company with retaliation” last week, the letter claimed, “marking a dark moment for freedom of speech” in the U.S..
“In an attempt to silence its critics, our government has resorted to threatening the livelihoods of journalists, talk show hosts, artists, creatives, and entertainers across the board,” the letter said. “This runs counter to the values our nation has built upon, and our Constitution guarantees.”
Interestingly, the letter also does not mention ABC or its parent company, Disney, by name. The letter urged readers to join the ACLU in its fight to “defend” free speech nationwide.
Here is a look at some of the other signees, including a number of stars who have made their disdain for the president well-known in the past:
Rosie O’Donnell, Jon Cryer, Lena Dunham, Ben Stiller, Christine Taylor, Cynthia Nixon, Judd Apatow, Billy Crystal, Meryl Streep, Florence Pugh, Frances McDormand, Mark Ruffalo, Chelsea Handler, Michael Keaton, Wallace Shawn, Zooey Deschanel, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
“Regardless of our political affiliation, or whether we engage in politics or not, we all love our country,” the letter added. “We also share the belief that our voices should never be silenced by those in power – because if it happens to one of us, it happens to all of us.”
The ACLU’s celeb-backed letter comes less than a week after Kimmel was suspended by ABC following comments he made suggesting Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old suspected killer of Charlie Kirk, was a Trump supporter.
Here is what Kimmel said on his program last Monday:
We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them.
Kimmel was criticized by many for the claim, considering the reported details point to Robinson being a leftist. Robinson reportedly had a romantic relationship with his trans roommate, used phrases associated with Antifa, and in text messages released last Tuesday, said he shot Kirk because of the conservative influencer’s “hatred.”
ABC suspended Kimmel on Wednesday, after pushback from Nexstar and Sinclair, the companies behind its biggest affiliates, and hours after FCC Chair Brendan Carr said he felt a suspension was warranted.
“I mean look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said last week. “These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
Kimmel and ABC are working on a deal to bring back Jimmy Kimmel Live, Variety reported over the weekend.
You can read the ACLU’s full letter by clicking here.
The post ‘Dark Moment for Freedom of Speech’: Robert De Niro, Tom Hanks Among 400 Celebs Lambasting Kimmel Suspension first appeared on Mediaite.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com ’
