John Oliver reminded me last night of my intention to cancel my Disney+ subscription and join the thousands of other subscribers doing the same. I’m still not sure if, as intended, I’ve managed to kill the entire Disney+/Hulu/ESPN bundle, since Disney owns Hulu and a majority interest in ESPN. But rest assured I will persevere.
The suspension of Jimmy Kimmel and capitulation to FCC chair and goodfella Brendan Carr is as alarming as it is unconstitutional. Shame on you, Disney, for being so short-sighted, for being so concerned about your bottom line, for failing to see that it’s not just about you, for not realizing that there’s far more at stake than you and your corporation.
Oliver said he is safe because he’s on HBO, a cable station. I don’t know how that works, but apparently it means that at least one intelligent, sharp-tongued comedian is not vulnerable to Trump’s campaign against free speech (aka any words that don’t shower him with praise). Not yet, anyway. But I do fear for Meyers and Fallon, whom Trump has already mentioned by name.
Speak up, people, while you still can.
FLASH: 1:38 pm MDT, Disney has just announced Kimmel will be back tomorrow night.
BRILLIANT, Colorado ! – but don’t it show how venal those corporations are ?!!
The most wonderful thing about Disney’s capitulation is that IT’S SHOWN EVERYONE THAT YOU CAN TRULY HAVE A REAL EFFECT !!
Go, you good things !!!! 🙂
The whole incident did get the attention that the CBS capitulation should have gotten. (Not to mention the lawsuits against some major newspapers, the withdrawal of funding from some universities, etc.) Sad that I spent a good part of my morning on this post and not 5 minutes after I posted it came the announcement that Kimmel would be back tomorrow night. Yes, his was a suspension, not a firing, but I don’t like Disney’s explanation that they were just trying to bring the heat down for a while. I think they should have defended Kimmel and let him keep the heat on. (In effect, instead of Trump muffling Kimmel, Disney did it.) On the other hand, the suspension may have generated more heat than any Kimmel monologue could have.
Yep, certainly the whole incident has brought about a public concern for and awareness of our freedom of speech that did not exist before. And that’s a very good thing. I hope it continues.
Me too !!!
I guess it remains to be seen whether Kimmel will be chastened by this. It’s hard to imagine it would have no effect. I don’t have Disney+, but if I did I would still cancel it. In my opinion the Trump administration has damaged the credibility of the media in this country for the foreseeable future, or at least the next 3 ½ years. Also, I fear that it’s turning us into a theocracy.
I heard one talking head say Kimmel wouldn’t change at all, but it’s hard to imagine he wouldn’t. Of course, if Kimmel doesn’t keep being Kimmel, he may lose his audience. And, yes, absolutely we’re being turned into a theocracy. That was the objective detailed in “Project 2025” even if not in so many words. What more proof is needed than a week of widespread mourning for a man you and I hadn’t even heard of until he died. All led by a blathering old man with, I believe, not an ounce of Christianity in his body. But his autocratic dreams are exactly what his supporters need and want. And so it goes.
I read that Kimmel’s firing (because that’s what it was) woke up people who were not paying attention to what Trump has been doing for the past few months in getting rid of our civil liberties. But getting rid of a well-known comedian opened eyes, so that’s the good thing.
Everything I’ve seen called it a “suspension” or “indefinite suspension” because that’s what Disney called it, but the intent may well have been a firing — prior to the public outcry. Disney might have acquiesced to FCC demands only to discover they had more to lose by angering the public. Whatever, letting Kimmel come back tomorrow isn’t going to buy back my subscription. At least not any time soon. (Personally, I’ve been apoplectic since the Colbert thing.)