Marvel star Tatiana Maslany calls for Disney boycott after Jimmy Kimmel suspension

Tatiana Maslany, 2022 inductee, poses for a photograph on the red carpet for the 2022 Canada’s Walk of Fame Gala in Toronto, on Saturday, Dec. 3, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Tijana Martin

Disney might not like her when she’s angry.

“She-Hulk” star Tatiana Maslany is urging fans to cancel their Disney subscriptions in protest of ABC’s decision to suspend “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”

The Regina-born actor made the appeal Thursday on her Instagram story, sharing an image of herself in motion caption gear to film “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law,” the Disney Plus Marvel series she stars in.

“Cancel your @disneyplus @hulu @espn subscriptions!” she wrote in the caption.

ABC, which is owned by Disney, announced Wednesday that it has “indefinitely” suspended Kimmel’s show following his comments about the assassination of Conservative influencer Charlie Kirk.

The veteran late-night comic made several remarks on his Monday and Tuesday night shows, including that “many in MAGA land are working very hard to capitalize on the murder of Charlie Kirk.”

The move comes after U.S. President Donald Trump urged the Federal Communications Commission to revoke licences from outlets giving him “bad press,” and the agency’s chairman slammed Kimmel’s remarks as “truly sick,” warning that Kimmel, ABC and Disney could be held liable for spreading misinformation.

Maslany joins several voices in Hollywood calling for a Disney boycott.

Damon Lindelof, creator of ABC series “Lost,” said on social media Thursday that he wouldn’t work with Disney until “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” is reinstated.

“I was shocked, saddened and infuriated by yesterday’s suspension and look forward to it being lifted soon,” Lindelof wrote on Instagram.

“Transparent” star Amy Landecker posted a screenshot of her Disney Plus cancellation page on social media, while “Watchmen” star Frances Fisher said she would join protests against Kimmel’s suspension in Los Angeles.

Media analyst James Nadler says Kimmel’s suspension is reminiscent of the McCarthy era of the 1950s, when networks blacklisted certain voices in Hollywood due to government pressure.

“What seems to be happening in the United States is it’s going back to that era when major corporations like Disney, like CBS-Paramount are afraid to protect free speech, even when it’s the free speech of a comedian,” says the associate professor of media production at Toronto Metropolitan University.

In July, CBS announced it would cancel “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” next spring, citing financial reasons. The decision came just three days after Colbert criticized the settlement between Trump and CBS parent company Paramount Global over a lawsuit involving a “60 Minutes” segment Trump claimed was misedited.

“And it’s not going to stop. This is just the beginning, because President Trump has explicitly stated the next people he’s going after are Seth Meyers and Jimmy Fallon.”

But Nadler is not immediately concerned about that censorship spilling across the border.

“Both Liberals and Conservatives have often complained about the CBC and its criticism of them, but I’m not worried that our current government would apply those kinds of pressures to a public broadcaster or a private broadcaster. We’re not in the same place,” he says.

Still, he worries what effect a shrinking of diversity of perspectives from U.S. outlets may have on Canadians watching them.

“People here watch U.S. programming. If that programming becomes less balanced about the discussion on Donald Trump, then people who only get their news from their friends and from TikTok, they might not have a full picture.”

- With files from the Associated Press

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2025.

Alex Nino Gheciu, The Canadian Press