🔗 Share this article

The famous Mickey Mouse logo is usually displayed around the entertainment giant’s corporate campus in the city of Burbank. But on a recent weekday, activists gathered outside the complex, displaying signs featuring one branding corporate officials as “weak” for suspending the popular host’s late-night talkshow.

The parent company, that controls ABC, announced an “unlimited” removal of Jimmy Kimmel Live on Wednesday night. The decision came after intimidating comments from Trump’s Federal Communications Commission leader regarding potential regulatory consequences for comments uttered about the former president and his supporters’ response following a controversial incident.

As numerous Americans condemned the incident as a obvious state interference on expression, certain groups blamed Disney and its chief executive Bob Iger for what they perceived as a quick capitulation to the Trump administration’s request to silence a well-known entertainer.

The freedom to speak our minds and to oppose others – to disturb, even – is at the very heart of what it means to be a free people.

Calls increased for consumer protests aimed at the brand and other companies complicit in removing Kimmel off television. Approximately hundreds people protested in front of Disney’s main offices on Thursday afternoon.

The protest had been organized by the Writers Guild of America, which demanded ABC to “Return Jimmy Kimmel Live!”. A separate group of an estimated protesters gathered near ABC’s offices in the East Coast.

Among the crowds, chanting of “against American values” and “Support free expression, Iger must go” could be heard. Attendees also highlighted concerns over company fear and regulatory threats.

A particular protester held a sign that read, “What happened to free expression?” – an apparent nod to the White House going after a popular comedian while polls show viewers are additionally dealing with economic pressures and a challenged market.

Multiple protesters held messages highlighting that the debate was evocative of the plot of an episode from Disney’s recent sci-fi program, Andor, which focuses on the resistance opposing government control.

An area elected official commented, “It is my opinion that Disney and ABC are completely accountable. They showed absolutely no pushback.”

WGA president Meredith Stiehm stated, “We are calling for Jimmy Kimmel back on the air and we will keep speaking up and applying pressure by all means necessary till that occurs.”