Sure, being a massive conglomerate capable of buying and selling some of the biggest entertainment brands on the planet sounds fun. You can throw around billions of dollars, engage in all sorts of fun mergers and acquisitions, and only occasionally find yourself forced to kneel and shell out cash in the face of the government being kind of mean to you. But have you considered how many people also wind up yelling at you, even when you only fold in the face of censorship a little bit?
These questions brought to us by news that some of Disney’s shareholder groups would like the corporation to answer their questions about its conduct over the last week, and specifically as applies to the nearly week-long suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! from the airwaves. Specifically, THR reports that Reporters Without Borders and the American Federation Of Teachers (both of whom own Disney stock, apparently) have issued a letter to the company’s board, stating that they believe that there’s a “credible basis to suspect” that the board broke its duty to investors by putting its focus on “improper political and affiliate considerations” in the Kimmel matter.
Basically, the letter asserts, by bowing to FCC pressure—indirectly applied to the House O’ Mouse after FCC chair Brendan Carr told affiliates that there was “an easy way or a hard way” to deal with Kimmel’s comments about right-wing conduct in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s murder—Disney cost its shareholders a bunch of money in the form of lost public reputation, streaming service cancellations, and drops in stock price. (It’s worth noting, in the interest of accuracy, that while Disney’s stock price did drop after the Kimmel suspension was announced, it didn’t drop much, in the grand scheme of things; that being said, it’s not clear yet how many people actually canceled their Disney+ subscriptions, or how much overall damage Disney has done to its rep over the last seven days.) The shareholders are demanding to be given access to board communications about the decision to suspend Kimmel, as well as any back-and-forth between Disney and Nexstar or Sinclair, the affiliate ownership groups that are continuing to keep the talk show off the air in the markets where they own ABC stations.
Reading between the lines, it’s easy to see how the shareholder groups are trying to send a message, i.e., that capitulating to the Trump administration’s demands could potentially be just as much a hassle for Bob Iger and his fellow members of Disney leadership as trying to fight them. “The fallout from suspending Jimmy Kimmel Live! sparked criticism as an attack on free speech,” the letter states, “Triggered boycotts and union support for Mr. Kimmel, and caused Disney’s stock to plummet amid fears of brand damage and concerns that Disney was complicit in succumbing to the government overreach and media censorship.”
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