Last week, the Disney-owned TV company ABC announced that the program "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" would be stopped after Kimmel commented on the reactions to the murdered right-wing debater Charlie Kirk. US President Donald Trump wrote on social media that it was "good news for the USA".
Kimmel received support from colleagues Conan O'Brian, David Letterman, Jon Stewart, and Stephen Colbert. The latter's program will be buried next year - a decision that critics claim is a way for the TV company CBS to ingratiate itself with the American president.
Will not be silenced
In recent days, more Hollywood celebrities have condemned the incident. For example, actors Mark Ruffalo, Pedro Pascal, and Marisa Tomei - despite having made superhero movies for Disney-owned Marvel.
400 people, including Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, Ben Affleck, Robert DeNiro, Selena Gomez, and Ben Stiller, have signed an open letter from the civil rights group American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) that was published on Monday due to "the government's threats to our freedom of speech".
A similar appeal with over 600 comedians was published over the weekend, with names like Jimmy Fallon, Chelsea Handler, and David Cross, who meant that it is "a dark time for comedians" but promised "not to let ourselves be silenced".
This seems to be a fairly clear case of the government pressuring companies to censor, said talk show host John Oliver in his opening monologue on Sunday, according to Hollywood Reporter.
Radio host Howard Stern urged everyone from the political spectrum to protest against censorship.
It feels like everything is a smokescreen so that we stop talking about what's really going on. We have problems with inflation, gasoline prices, food - there are all sorts of problems, said Stern in his program on Monday, according to Billboard.
"Cancel the subscription"
Stern also announced that he is canceling his subscription to the streaming service Disney+. Something that comedian Rosie O'Donnell, Tatiana Maslany from the TV series "She-Hulk" (which is streamed on Disney+), and Cynthia Nixon from "And just like that" also urged.
We will really miss "Only murders in the building". But you know what? We would miss the first amendment (freedom of speech) even more. Don't go to the amusement parks. Don't go on cruises. Cancel your subscriptions. Now. Now, said Nixon in a video on
.
