Adam Soukup September 21st, 2025 - 5:36 PM
Pedro Pascal (The Last Of Us, Game of Thrones) has become the latest Hollywood A-lister to condemn ABC’s preemption of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, according to a Saturday report by Deadline. Earlier this week, the Emmy-nominated actor posted an image of himself and Kimmel — likely taken on the night of Pascal’s appearance on the talk show this March — to his Instagram alongside the caption, “Standing with you @jimmykimmellive Defend #FreeSpeech Defend #Democracy”.
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Pascal’s Instagram post adjoins him to the long list of Hollywood heavyweights who have spoken out against ABC’s suspension of Kimmel following the talk show host’s controversial monologue about the assassination of right-wing media personality Charlie Kirk, in which he accused conservatives of attempting to “score political points” from the shooting while “desperately trying to characterize (the shooter) as anything other than one of them” (via the BBC). It was seemingly these comments, and FCC chair Brendan Carr’s subsequent threat to pursue legal action against ABC over the remarks, that led to the network’s affiliate parent companies, Nexstar Media and Sinclair Broadcast Group, to indefinitely suspend Jimmy Kimmel Live!.
“Mr. Kimmel’s remarks were inappropriate and deeply insensitive at a critical moment for our country,” wrote Sinclair vice chairman Jason Smith in a statement obtained by The Independent. “We believe broadcasters have a responsibility to educate and elevate respectful, constructive dialogue in our communities. We appreciate FCC Chairman Carr’s remarks today and this incident highlights the critical need for the FCC to take immediate regulatory action to address control held over local broadcasters by the big national networks.”
Within hours of ABC’s announcement, numerous actors and media personalities took to social media to voice their disapproval, with some urging their followers to boycott Disney until the decision was reversed. The Writers’ Guild of America and the Screen Actors’ Guild both affirmed Kimmel’s right to free speech in public statements, while Tatiana Maslany (She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Orphan Black), Marisa Tomei (My Cousin Vinny, What Women Want), and Mark Ruffalo (Now You See Me, Poor Things) — all of whom, like Pascal, have become synonymous with important characters in Disney’s flagship Marvel Cinematic Universe — made similar condemnations on Kimmel’s behalf. “Cancel your @disneyplus @hulu @espn subscriptions!,” urged Maslany, who plays the titular character in the Disney+ exclusive She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, on a now-expired Instagram story.
Pascal has also previously used his public platform to advocate for other political causes, such as when he rebuked Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling as “a heinous loser” for celebrating a UK ruling which dictated that trans women were not legally women (and vice versa). “Listen, I want to protect the people I love,” Pascal explained to Vanity Fair, referring to his sister Lux, who is transgender. “But it goes beyond that. Bullies make me f*cking sick.”
Though only time will tell whether Hollywood’s boycott of ABC and affiliates succeeds in convincing the broadcaster to reverse course, the public outcry following Kimmel’s suspension might already be affecting the companies’ bottom lines. So many Disney+ and Hulu users attempted to cancel their subscriptions earlier this week that it seemingly crashed the site (via Yahoo!), while Disney’s stock has lost approximately two percent of its value since Thursday according to MarketWatch (though, as many economists have keenly pointed out, correlation doesn’t necessarily equal causation here).
Neither Nexstar or Sinclair have publicly acknowledged the backlash to Kimmel’s cancellation; according to Deadline, Sinclair did, however, cancel plans to replace the talk show host’s Friday time slot with a Charlie Kirk tribute special produced by subsidiary news organization The National News Desk. In a statement posted to the company’s X account, the broadcast group announced the special would instead air on their official YouTube channel, “ensuring viewers can continue to enjoy ABC programming while also providing full access to the special online.” The boycott was not cited as a contributing factor behind the decision.
