“Regardless of our political affiliation, or whether we engage in politics or not, we all love our country,” the letter reads. “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 letter closes with a call to action: “This is the moment to defend free speech across our nation. We encourage all Americans to join us, along with the ACLU, in the fight to defend and preserve our constitutionally protected rights.”
In addition to Jennifer Aniston, Ben Affleck, and Tom Hanks, the ACLU letter was signed by prominent Disney stars including Selena Gomez, Pedro Pascal, Diego Luna, Martin Short, and Meryl Streep. Other signatories spanned a wide range of Hollywood talent, such as Jason Bateman, Robert De Niro, Jane Fonda, Elizabeth Banks, Olivia Rodrigo, Ben Stiller, Jean Smart, Jamie Lee Curtis, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Michael Keaton, Regina King, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Natalie Portman, Maya Rudolph, Mark Ruffalo, and Kerry Washington.
The high-profile show of support comes in the wake of Disney’s ABC temporarily pulling Jimmy Kimmel Live! just hours before its scheduled Sept. 17 broadcast. The suspension followed remarks Kimmel made earlier that week regarding the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, the 31-year-old founder of Turning Point USA and conservative commentator, who was shot and killed on Sept. 10 during a campus event at Utah Valley University. Authorities apprehended a suspect, Tyler Robinson, two days later; he has since been charged with aggravated murder along with six additional counts.
During his Sept. 15 broadcast, Jimmy Kimmel addressed the White House’s response to Charlie Kirk’s death. “On Friday, the White House flew the flags at half-staff, which got some criticism, but on a human level, you can see how hard the president is taking this,” Kimmel said.
A clip then cut to former President Donald Trump, 79, fielding questions from reporters following the shooting, one of whom offered condolences for the death of Kirk, whom Trump referred to as a “friend.” When asked how he was coping, Trump replied, “I think very good, and by the way, right there where you see all the trucks, they just started construction of the new ballroom for the White House.” He continued discussing the plans, noting that the ballroom would “be a beauty.”
The remarks drew swift criticism from Nexstar Media, the largest local broadcast and digital media company in the U.S., which owns more than 200 television stations in 116 markets. Andrew Alford, president of Nexstar’s broadcasting division, that Kimmel’s comments were “offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse.”
Alford added that the network did not believe the comments “reflect the spectrum of opinions, views, or values of the local communities in which we are located.” He continued, “Continuing to give Mr. Kimmel a broadcast platform in the communities we serve is simply not in the public interest at the current time, and we have made the difficult decision to preempt his show in an effort to let cooler heads prevail as we move toward the resumption of respectful, constructive dialogue.”
The suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! followed Nexstar Media’s announcement that it intends to acquire rival broadcast company Tegna for $6.2 billion. The deal would give Nexstar access to roughly 80% of television-owning households in the United States and requires final approval from the Trump-controlled Federal Communications Commission
FCC Chair Brendan Carr weighed in on the controversy, praising the decision to suspend Jimmy Kimmel Live! and writing on X that “it is important for broadcasters to push back on Disney programming that they determine falls short of community values.”
Sinclair Broadcast Group, which operates the nation’s largest ABC affiliate network, issued a statement on Sept. 17 objecting to Kimmel’s comments regarding the assassination of Charlie Kirk. After discussions with ABC, Sinclair announced it would “indefinitely preempt” Jimmy Kimmel Live! beginning that evening.
“Mr. Kimmel’s remarks were inappropriate and deeply insensitive at a critical moment for our country,” said Sinclair Vice Chairman Jason Smith. “We believe broadcasters have a responsibility to educate and elevate respectful, constructive dialogue in our communities.”
Smith also expressed support for FCC oversight, noting that the incident underscores “the critical need for the FCC to take immediate regulatory action to address control held over local broadcasters by the big national networks.”
In addition, Sinclair outlined specific conditions for Kimmel’s return to air, including formal discussions with ABC regarding the network’s “commitment to professionalism and accountability,” a direct apology to the Kirk family, and a meaningful personal donation to both the Kirk family and Turning Point USA, the nonprofit founded by Kirk that advocates for conservative engagement on high school and college campuses.
Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump addressed the situation during a state visit to the United Kingdom on Sept. 18, claiming Kimmel was “fired for lack of talent.” “Jimmy Kimmel was fired because he had bad ratings more than anything else and he said a horrible thing about a great man named Charlie Kirk,” Trump said. “Jimmy Kimmel is not a talented person, he had very bad ratings, and they should have fired him a long time ago.”
