Kimmel won’t do that. But if we are wrong about that, and he nonetheless continues to mock Trump, Kimmel should still be treated as a ally. Big tent is how you defeat these guys.
It is impossible to avoid funding MAGA, at least if you have a family to support and need to stay out of court. When I pay my income tax, I am funding MAGA.
In the unlikely event Kimmel sent a check to the Kirk family organization, I’m pretty darn sure he’d match it with a progressive-friendly contribution.
Of course you cannot just do whatever Sinclair says. But retreat sometimes is a winning tactic.
So just normal Americans cancelling Disney+ and Hulu in large numbers caused Disney to rethink their position. How do we hurt Sinclair financially. I want to boycott something else. I’m thinking the only way to stop these companies from doing this kind of stuff is to hit them in the bottom line every time they do.
Like anything else, you attack their wallet. Find some local sponsors of whatever your closest Sinclair affiliate and tell them you will not do any business with them unless they pull their advertisements.
I’m more curious if FCC chair Carr will open his piehole again.
He’s better off doing what he should have done in the first damned place: say nothing. Repeating the threat keeps the 1st Amendment controversy alive. And if he makes decisions consistent with his threat, corporate lawyers will (and should!) use his remarks as grounds for arguing a biased decision in court challenges. Lots of federal judges are NOT Trumpy.
But Trump demands loyalty from his toady officials, which he expects to be expressed by rattling government-issued sabers at Trump’s enemies. How long when Kimmel’s back on the air will Trump let Carr go without threatening ABC?
I live in the DC area and I checked the local Sinclair ABC station schedule for tonight, it still lists Jimmy Kimmel Live. If they’re going to preempt it, they haven’t yet updated their website schedule.
My Disney Plus will remain cancelled for the foreseeable future.
The letter I sent to the company (a dozen copies across the executive class) also said we had originally been planning a trip to Disneyland Paris next spring, but that’s off the table too.
Their suspension of Kimmel was a gutless retreat to the bottom line. Their reaction to the backlash is the same. No forgiveness is warranted.
Kimmel should neither apologize nor explain. He should just go forward as if the suspension had never happened.
Because the MAGA cult will never accept either apology or explanation. It’s time to stop capitulating to the Cult. They will never meet you halfway. On the contrary, they’ll just keep pulling the goalposts further and further back.
…and a lot of folks will just go to the internet and either watch clips or get the whole show a day or two later. That’s what the old guard doesn’t get - this stuff is on the internet. Even if Kimmel’s show had stayed off the air it still wouldn’t stop Kimmel from reaching people.
As far as the “boycott Disney” sentiment goes, I see how bowing to our Dictator is a horrible precedent and worry of the wrath of the American people. But, prior to this incident, Disney was in the cross hairs of the right for being “woke” for having generally lgbtq friendly policies and adding diversity to their products. Things like gay pride day at the amusement parks, having an African-American Cinderella or Latina Snow White. Pulling “Song of the South” from circulation. The pirates of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” no longer are trying to rape a woman. Publicly fighting back against Desantis over something.
Disney has been the target of the right wings “go woke go broke” campaign for awhile. I don’t think it’s been that successful, I think Disney a pretty profitable corporation.
So this one time 180 degree turn, however egregious, might be a one time thing and maybe they learned their lesson.
I kinda feel sorry for them (sorta). They pissed off everybody at this point, the right and the left.
I will continue to give Disney as much business as I ever did, which is hardly anything. No cable, I don’t subscribe to either Disney or Hulu, and I have no interest in any sort of Disney swag so I’m kind of an outlier. Hard to boycott shit you don’t use in the first place.
This is a sinclair/nexstar (or whatever they’re called) issue as much as an ABC one, but it’s much harder to enact/demonstrate a boycott of those entities.
Gavin Newsome is an awesome idea for his first guest. Between this and not apologizing I have enormous respect for Kimmel. I may even start watching his show.
I hope this is not a hijack, but could someone who knows more about how the broadcasting business works explain a little about the practicalities of what is happening?
Are affiliates allowed by contract to pick and choose programming? What are an affiliate’s obligations to the parent network? Can an affiliate choose to air anything they want from the syndication catalogue at any time? Can I be the local ABC affiliate and not run World News Tonight?
I’m unclear on the power dynamics in play between the network and its affiliates.
The problem isn’t with what the affiliates can or cannot do, because this is more a case of two major owners of those affiliates making the decision for them. Sinclair and Nexstar own a major piece of the affiliate pie.