Disney lost more than 1.7 million paid streaming subscribers in the week after ABC temporarily pulled Jimmy Kimmel off the air, according to journalist Marisa Kabas. The suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live came after pressure from the Trump administration’s Federal Communications Commission, though the host has since returned.
“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,” Kabas wrote Monday on Bluesky. She reported that the loss was 436 percent above what would typically be expected during the same time frame. Disney did not immediately respond to questions from Gizmodo.
The cancellations followed a wave of viral calls on social media urging customers to boycott Disney-owned streaming services. The outcry began after Kimmel made a comment in the wake of the Sept. 10 killing of MAGA influencer Charlie Kirk, which some interpreted as suggesting the shooter was a Trump supporter. Kimmel denied that was his intent, but the remark drew criticism online and quickly became a political flashpoint.
FCC chairman Brendan Carr seized on the controversy, describing Kimmel’s remarks as “some of the sickest conduct possible” in an appearance on Benny Johnson’s podcast. “Frankly, when you see stuff like this, I mean, we can do this the easy way or these companies can find ways to change conduct… to take action, frankly, on Kimmel or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead,” Carr said.
President Donald Trump has made no secret of his hostility toward late-night comedians who lampoon him. He celebrated CBS’s cancellation of Stephen Colbert’s show earlier this summer and said Kimmel would be “next,” along with Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers at NBC. Recently, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that networks critical of him should lose their licenses, an assertion at odds with the First Amendment’s protections for political speech.
Kimmel returned to the air last week. Though Sinclair and Nexstar affiliates initially preempted the show in some markets, the boycott was soon lifted. For now, Jimmy Kimmel Live is back on local ABC stations nationwide, but the clash underscores the growing pressure on media companies in an election season increasingly shaped by political intervention.