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Actress Jennifer Aniston criticized ABC’s suspension of late-night host Jimmy Kimmel during an interview with Elle published Wednesday.
Asked about Kimmel’s suspension for the outlet’s “Women in Hollywood” issue, the “Friends” star called it “horrible” and “unthinkable.”
“Unthinkable things are happening. It’s very dangerous and very unfortunate,” Aniston said.
JIMMY KIMMEL SAYS CHRISTIANITY HAS BEEN ‘CO-OPTED AND PERVERTED’ WHILE CRITICIZING TRUMP IMMIGRATION POLICY
ABC and its parent company, Disney, pulled “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” in September following the backlash the late-night host received for claiming that the suspected murderer of conservative activist Charlie, Tyler Robinson, was a supporter of President Donald Trump.
“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” he said at the time.
Kimmel’s comments came one day after both FBI officials and Republican Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said Robinson held a “leftist ideology” and was increasingly radicalized in recent years.
Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcast Group, both of which own hundreds of local TV stations across the United States, announced they would preempt Kimmel’s show on ABC affiliates “for the foreseeable future.”
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Kimmel’s suspension followed. However, some liberal commentators argued that Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr pressured ABC to suspend Kimmel because he mentioned there were potential “avenues” the FCC could pursue to hold ABC accountable during a conservative radio interview at the time.
Kimmel’s show was restored days later.
Aniston, a friend of the ABC host, told Elle she believed the boycott of Disney-owned streaming platforms Hulu and Disney+ sent a message to the company to bring Kimmel’s show back.
“But, at the end of the day, we’re the viewers. We subscribe to these networks and streaming services, so it really comes down to the people and their voices. All those subscription cancellations spoke volumes,” the actress said.
Business Insider reported that cancellations of the streaming platforms doubled in September, though it’s unclear how many were related to the Kimmel controversy.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE
Satellite radio host Howard Stern said he canceled his subscription that month to protest the decision.
Describing it as a government attack on free speech on “The Howard Stern Show,” the host said, “I just know when the government begins to interfere, when the government says, ‘I’m not pleased with you, so we’re going to orchestrate a way to silence you,’ it’s the wrong direction for our country.
“Now, it might sound stupid, but the thing I did this morning — I’m canceling my Disney+. I’m trying to say with the pocketbook that I do not support what they’re doing with Jimmy.”
Kimmel and his wife, television writer Molly McNearney, discussed the aftermath of the suspension during a podcast interview last week. McNearney said she feels anger toward family members who support Trump despite her husband’s opposition to him.
“It hurts me so much because of the personal relationship I now have, where my husband is out there fighting this man, and to me, them voting for Trump is them not voting for my husband and me and our family. And I unfortunately have kind of lost relationships with people in my family because of it,” McNearney said.
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