Disney shareholders demand reasons for Kimmel suspension

Most relevant parts:

The group criticized the decision to suspend the comedian after comments about the conservative reaction to the alleged shooter of Charlie Kirk, and said that investors were entitled to investigate whether the company’s leaders “did not properly discharge their fiduciary duties” in deciding to bench Kimmel amid threats from the FCC. The fallout, which sparked criticisms that Disney was caving on free-speech issues and drew some threats from Hollywood talent to stop working with the company, shaved more than $4 billion off its market value last week.

The group wants any materials that estimate the effect of Kimmel’s suspension on Disney’s revenue, as well as documents that lay out how executives are supposed to make decisions around “politically sensitive programming.” It also wants copies of Disney’s agreements with affiliate networks Nexstar and Sinclair, whose initial threats to black out Kimmel’s show appear to have sparked his suspension; emails between board members, including CEO Bob Iger; and any communications between the company and federal government or political organizations.

“Although we are pleased that ABC did the right thing and put Jimmy Kimmel back on the air last night, due to the Trump administration’s continued threats to free speech, including with respect to ABC, we are writing to seek transparency into the initial decision to suspend him and his show,” the letter said.

“There is a credible basis to suspect that the Board and executives may have breached their fiduciary duties of loyalty, care, and good faith by placing improper political or affiliate considerations above the best interests of the Company and its stockholders.”

Shareholders in Delaware, where Disney is legally based, can demand corporate “books and records” to investigate potential wrongdoing, and such demands can lead to lawsuits. But their access generally is limited to matters involving the board of directors, not day-to-day management decisions made by company executives. Communications between, for example, Iger, Disney TV chief Dana Walden, and Kimmel would likely be off-limits, and aren’t sought by the group’s letter.

Definitely financially motivated, and not out of ur the goodness of their own hearts.

My favorite was AFTER unsubscribing from Hulu and Disney+, I got an email about an upcoming price hike:

Upcoming Hulu Price Change Dear Member, Thank you for being part of the Hulu community. We’re so glad you’ve enjoyed everything we have to offer, from blockbuster movies, to brand-new series and exclusive Originals.

As part of our continued investment in delivering world-class entertainment, the price of your Disney+, Hulu Bundle will increase to $12.99/month on your first billing cycle on or after October 21, 2025. Your plan will automatically renew at the new price unless you switch plans or cancel via Account before then.

You do not need to take any action to continue enjoying Hulu and Disney+.

Talk about tone deaf.

Edit: the email was dated the 23rd.

Looking forward to how Disney rephrases "because at the time we thought gargling a shriveled orange ballsack would be the most profitable option for us" into a nice lengthy shareholder notice...

THE MOUSE DEMANDS TRIBUTE!

What a cluster this all is. So many government officials are saying "we had nothing to do with this situation", then little donny comes in and destroys that by proving he was responsible for it. Then Disney is like, "yeah we will put it back on." but GOP owned Sinclair and Nexstar said "Screw Jimmy, we wont show him cause we need our merger to go through and we need to bribe the king."

All of this could be avoided if people voted for a real president, and not a grifting pedophile who only knows "win or lose" and has never made a compromise in his sheltered life.

"Our government is increasingly a fascist dictatorship and bending knee seemed more profitable at the time but the people were at least briefly awakened from their torpor"

People are pissed about whats going on in this country but they either don't see what they can do about it, live in denial about it, or are unwilling to make the sacrifices required. So when an easy way to fight back it presented itself, people took it.

I worked with many high level American corporate workers and they legitimately think they can outsmart and take advantage of any situation and they often actually do. Nexstar and Sinclair just thought they can play trump to cash in a quick quid pro quo and nobody will notice and severely miscalculated - suits them right and hopefully they get punished hard now.

Because his orangity the emperor said so.

Fascism.

I wonder if the conversation will be honest or will be a politicians response with words intended to appease the questions without saying anything meaningful

It's wild in 2025 when most people watch their content via streaming apps, or cable/satellite at the very least, that we're still subject to the priorities of network affiliates broadcasting over rabbit ears when it comes to content. Broadcast TV and your local channel 4 affiliate has zero future. Who cares if Nexstar and Sinclair merge or not? They're both doomed to ultimately fail.

Here's a record related to the decision:

IMPORTANT MEMO
To: Disney Leadership
From: Donald J. Trump
Subject: JIMMY KIMMEL IS AGAINST CHARLIE KIRK — VERY BAD!

Dear Disney,

You know me — I love the great people. But Jimmy Kimmel? He’s not a fan of Charlie Kirk. He said some very unfair things. Like, he called the Maga gang “desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them.” That’s NOT nice! That’s NOT TRUE!

I told him, “Jimmy, stop talking about Charlie Kirk!” But he didn’t listen. He’s a disgrace. A DISGRACE! And when I say “disgrace,” I mean anti-American. So I want you to SUSPEND him. S-U-S-P-E-N-D. No more jokes about Charlie Kirk. No more laughs. Just a big, beautiful silence.

If you don’t do it, I’ll have to say you’re NOT doing your job either. And that would be terrible.

Best regards, Donald J. Trump

P.S. Jimmy’s a loser. A total loser.

These are America ...what questions do they have?

Lol. Are people still talking about this nothing? WTF