Damon Lindelof was a co-creator and co-showrunner Lost, a monster hit for ABC. But he won’t be doing any more work for the network or for parent company Disney unless corporate execs reverse their suspension of Jimmy Kimmel.
“I was shocked, saddened, and infuriated by yesterday’s suspension and look forward to it being lifted soon,” Lindelof wrote on Instagram on Thursday, a day after ABC controversially yanked Jimmy Kimmel Live! off the air following Kimmel’s Charlie Kirk comments. “If it isn’t, I can’t in good conscience work for the company that imposed it.”
Lindelof said he first heard Kimmel — seen with him below, in a photo from a 2006 event — on the former KROQ-FM morning showKevin and Bean after moving to Los Angeles in his 20s. “I was a fan of his goofy honest wit from the jump, and I never imagined we would one day be friends” he wrote. “I met him for the first time backstage at the ABC upfronts in 2004… he had just seen the Lost pilot and dug it. He also said, ‘I hope you guys know what you’re doing.’”
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He went on: “If you know Jimmy, you know his incredible wife and head writer, Molly, who is not just his better half but his better three quarters. You also know he is caring and empathic and grateful. You know he loves his country. You know he appreciates a good roast, and he can take as good as he gives. You know he supported his crew through multiple strikes, and you know he is generous and philanthropic, and most of all, you know that he is kind.”
Lindelof closed his missive with a message to Instagram users and to Kimmel himself, writing, “If you’re about to fire up in my comments, just ask yourself if you know the difference between hate speech and a joke. I think you still do. And Jimmy? You’ve always known what you were doing. Love you and support you.”
Amid outcry from conservative activists, ABC put Jimmy Kimmel Live!on pause on Wednesday, two days after Kimmel said on the show that the “MAGA gang” was “desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”
In addition to Lost, Lindelof’s other Disney work includes the 1999 ABC drama series Wasteland, on which he was a writer, and the 2015 Walt Disney Pictures film Tomorrowland, which he co-wrote and produced.