Marvel star Mark Ruffalo has joined fellow Hulk actor Tatiana Maslany in condemning ABC parent company Disney‘s decision to preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live! following pressure from the FCC and affiliate owners.
In comments posted to Threads this morning, the longtime MCU actor, who has portrayed the comic book green giant since 2012’s The Avengers, shared a report indicating Disney’s stock had dropped by 7% following ABC’s suspension of the late-night mainstay program.
“It’s going to go down a lot further if they cancel his show,” the Task star noted. “Disney does not want to be the ones that broke America.” (Indeed, per financial analytics, Disney’s stock price did decrease after news of Kimmel’s sidelining broke Wednesday, reaching a low of $112 per share compared to the previous $116 average, a drop of 3.5%. Since then, share prices have gradually begun climbing up.)
Ruffalo — a vocal critic of the Trump administration and staunch activist for human rights — is the latest big name attached to the Mouse House to speak out against the move, which has sent shockwaves through both entertainment and political spheres. Earlier, Maslany called for consumers to boycott the corporation by canceling their subscriptions to services like Hulu and Disney+, while The Fantastic Four: First Steps star Pedro Pascal noted his support of Kimmel, writing that democracy and free speech must be protected.
Additionally, Andor writer and recently minted Emmy winner Dan Gilroy penned a guest column in Deadline denouncing the “venomous evil” and governmental “siege” the network pulling represented, and former Disney CEO Michael Eisner condemned the move as a signal of poor leadership at Disney. In Hollywood overall, guilds have reacted with fervor, with writers and actors protesting at the company lot in Burbank.
ABC indefinitely suspended Kimmel’s late-night show after FCC chair Brendan Carr threatened action over a joke made at President Donald Trump’s expense, in which the host poked fun at POTUS’ seeming lack of grief over the shooting death of ultra-right-wing pundit Charlie Kirk and said the “MAGA gang” is trying to characterize alleged killer Tyler Robinson as “anything other than one of them” in an attempt to “score political points.”
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr had noted on a podcast, reacting to the right-wing ire over Kimmel’s monologue material. “These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
The preemption was also due to pressure from large affiliate-owning conglomerates like Nexstar —currently eyeing a multi-billion-dollar deal to purchase rival Tegna (which would require FCC oversight) — which pulled the show for the “foreseeable future,” and did so “unilaterally” without pressure from the government agency. Meanwhile, Sinclair Broadcast Group, the second largest national station operator and largest owner of ABC affiliates, said it would not lift the suspension until Kimmel had apologized to Kirk’s family and made a “meaningful donation” to his conservative nonprofit organization Turning Point USA. As such, the company replaced its Kimmel slot with a tribute to Kirk.
Meanwhile, Trump has celebrated the news, implying that late-night hosts Seth Meyers and Jimmy Fallon are next up for removal.
