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.

You're not wrong. On the other hand, the more that it can start to be seen that siding with Trump's bullshit is a catastrophe that will get you in trouble with your friends, instead of just some sort of abstracted sin against the country and constitution, I think the better.
- What they'll end up doing is creating a government/private hybrid network where taxpayers give money to Disney to create "wholesome American content". Like the Nazis did.
- Not just your friends. If it can cost you your job or ruin your month, suddenly capitulation hurts
I fear the best we can hope for is that people do the right things, not that they do then for the right reasons.
The simple fact is that when it comes to corporations, that's the only way to force changes. The Shareholders ultimately decide who runs the company and whether it is acting in their interests. Disney's comparatively small fuck up here with Kimmel (compared to the entire empire) has cost the company millions in lost profit from subscription cancellations alone and an untold amount of goodwill worldwide, which indirectly equates to lost profits for years. Losses way more impactful than the small piece of the pie that is the show on ABC.
- dint they lose billions, not millions, just from the kimmel thing alone.
  THe colbert situation pretty much primed the situation to be worst.
Definitely financially motivated, and not out of ur the goodness of their own hearts.
“Shareholders” in the headline was the giveaway
Worth noting this bit from the footnotes of the article though:
The letter was organized in conjunction with the Democracy Defenders Fund, a nonprofit watchdog group founded by Norman Eisen, a former Obama aide and the author of the anti-Trump Substack The Contrarian
I dont agree here. Other relevant parts you skipped:
A group of Disney shareholders are demanding...
A group, not all.
The letter was organized in conjunction with the Democracy Defenders Fund, a nonprofit watchdog group founded by Norman Eisen, a former Obama aide and the author of the anti-Trump Substack The Contrarian.
And there it is. The questions they are asking forces the release of information that will make all shareholders (who are the people you are describing) unhappy. This makes things difficult for executives making these decisions, thus making it more likely they won't do it again.
Tagging repliers for discussion: @PhilipTheBucket@quokk.au @onslaught545@lemmy.zip

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.

lol this happened to me too
After they just made billions in profit the year before. Always chasing the $$$.

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!

The tree of Mickey must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of late-night TV show hosts and news anchors
You Don’t!
<kick>
Fucking!
<kick>
Talk To Me!
<kick>
(Haha) Like That!
<kick>
(haha) You Little!
<kick>
Piece!
<kick>
Of Shit!

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.

It’d be solved if they actually legislated corporate behavior to prevent monopolistic behavior and enforced those laws. We wouldn’t have to deal with these giants like Sinclair or Disney owning what we see and hear and fighting to consume everything for profit and control.
- It'd be solved if Congress was controlled by adults who fulfill their responsibility to reign in the executive branch instead of sycophants who gleefully hand over their authority to a demagogue.
  It'd be solved if the federal courts up to and especially SCOTUS actually ruled on law instead of partisan team sports mentality.
  It'd be solved if the US actual did a proper reconstruction after the Civil War.
Let's be real here, Sinclair and Nextstar's merger was secondary to liberal tears. They've been turning local stations into MAGA propaganda machines at a breaknecl speeds.

"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.

"People" don't know what actions to take. They don't believe that they are able to do anything meaningful.
They are already struggling and just trying to take care of themselves.
This has always been the case. It always will be the case.
Until a movement is formed that people can help with in their own way, they won't be out fighting for their rights, that will be going to work. Trying to stay safe. Trying bit to bring undue attention to themselves because the forces that should come to help them if they need it, are the ones making life hell for the average person.
There is no plan
There are no opposition leaders to rally behind
But I'm a cynic, maybe I'm wrong.
- I think you've nailed it spot on. But I don't know that it's more cynical than the proposition that the entire population is waiting for the opportunity to fight one another over social principles (that sounds cynical AF, honestly).
  We change behaviors by percentages and generally not in massive waves. Kimmel looks like an exception but I bet it was really an internal schism and we moved the needle just far enough to be exploited by the right people.
- My vote is Luigi Mangione. guys a real hero. Sitting in jail on trumped up charges, which if they are even true, would only make me like him more.
+1 for “torpor”

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.

Hopefully they get so punished that their entire bloodline is destitute.

Because his orangity the emperor said so.

Actually, he didn't even have to ask. They just did it, pre-empting the administration
More than complicit, outwardly fascist

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

The difference is that the board/CEOs can actually be held accountable by shareholders, and aren't nearly as easily distracted by the jangling keys of "immigrants and trans people".
They're evil and greedy fucking monsters, but it also means they're very easy to understand. Line go up = good, line down = bad, and this decision made line go down.

they are going to price hike even more now, since it costed them a ton of money.
Honestly, the more I think about that ending, the more I feel it was done on purpose to easily secure a second season renewal. At this time, it's still not renewed.
I loved the show otherwise.

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.

The broadcast channels will continue to be divided up for cellular as well, as they already have been. LTE/NR band 71 was UHF TV channels 38-51. Any remaining channels will just have to become apps or streams, with different regulations and all the crazy allowed.
- Like putting a carwash on some land to sit in it.

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

Yes, people are still talking about the FCC chair and the president violating the First Amendment with exactly zero consequences.
Yes, we care about the 1st Amendment, thanks for asking :)
- Does the first amendment protect novelty television?
And people are still talking about your hero getting blasted. The world continues to spin.
- People are still talking about Zappa, too? What a world.
Lol. Are people still asking this nothing question? WTF
Hey all apropos of nothing, I enjoy using the bloc function liberally on Lemmy. It’s really wonderful.
Protesting Jimmy Kimmel getting an extended paid vacation is the only thing that's left for liberals to do.
They can't protest to end genocide, that's illegal.
They can't protest in defense of LGBTQ rights, that's divisive and unelectable.
They can't protest over the environment, it's bad for ~~big business~~ the jobs economy.
They can't even protest over inflation, because the BLS isn't allowed to release bad numbers anymore.
All liberals have left is Kimmel.
- What I see here is straw man after straw man. Do you even talk to anyone in real life?
- Impressive collection of whining
- The internet downvote is their strongest rebuttal.
Yeah, move on to important topics, like the Epstein files.