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Did Disney lose $4 billion over Jimmy Kimmel row? ABC reinstates late night host after backlash
Disney reinstated 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' after a week-long suspension over his comments on Charlie Kirk’s death, amid backlash and potential financial losses.
The Walt Disney Company, which owns ABC, announced on Monday that they are reinstating 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' after a week-long suspension. ABC suspended the late-night host after his comments on the death of Charlie Kirk were deemed "insensitive and ill-timed," per Monday's statement.
"Last Wednesday, we made the decision to suspend production on the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country," it read. "It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive."
“We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday.”
Disney's backtracking on the initial decision to suspend Kimmel sparked speculation that the company may have lost money as a result of it. Especially, given that "BoycottABC" and "Boycott Disney" have been trending. Many social media users posted that they were canceling their Disney subscriptions.
Some users went so far as to claim that Disney lost nearly $4 billion over the decision to suspend 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' Below is one such post.
However, these claims have no concrete basis, as, even though several people did cancel their Disney subscription after the Jimmy Kimmel row, no record of an exact figure on how much loss the company endured as a result is in the public domain.
However, ever since the decision to suspend 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!,' the share prices of Walt Disney & Co. dropped by 1.9%, resulting in a $3.87 billion. Though this drop coincided with the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! on ABC, there is no direct link between the two.
Also read: When is Jimmy Kimmel Live! returning? Read Disney's full statement
What Did Jimmy Kimmel Say About Charlie Kirk?
Jimmy Kimmel faced suspension from Disney-owned ABC after his comments on Charlie Kirk's death. Kirk, a 31-year-old conservative activist, was shot death by a 22-year-old suspect, Tyler Robinson, during one his Kirk's campus tours at Utah Valley University.
Talking about his death, Kimmel made some comments on the links between Kirk and Trump's Make America Again movement.
Kimmel said: “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid (Robinson) who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and with everything they can to score political points from it.”
