Selena Gomez, Olivia Rodrigo and hundreds of other artists are speaking up after Jimmy Kimmel Live! was pulled from the airwaves.
In an ACLU letter signed by more than 400 entertainers, some of the most famous names in pop culture rallied together to show support for Jimmy Kimmel following the suspension of his late-night program on ABC. “We the people must never accept government threats to our freedom of speech,” the letter reads.
“Last week, Jimmy Kimmel was taken off the air after the government threatened a private company with retaliation, marking a dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation,” it continues. “In an attempt to silence its critics, our government has resorted to threatening the livelihoods of journalists, talk show hosts, artists, creatives and entertainers across the board.”
Ben Platt, Cyndi Lauper, Debbi Gibson, Joe Keery, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Rufus Wainwright, Sheryl Crow and Tom Morello were also among the musicians who signed the letter, which ended with a call to action to “fight to defend and preserve our constitutionally protected rights,” regardless of political affiliation. Actors such as Meryl Streep, Joaquin Phoenix, Florence Pugh, Adam Scott, Ben Stiller, Jennifer Aniston, Lena Dunham, Mark Ruffalo and Natalie Portman also added their names.
The letter comes less than a week after ABC announced that it was indefinitely suspending Jimmy Kimmel Live! following pressure from the Federal Communications Commission. (The Walt Disney Co. owns ABC, Hulu and ESPN, among other media properties.) Brendan Carr, the FCC’s chairman, had threatened to revoke the licenses of the network’s affiliates who continued to air Kimmel’s program in light of comments the host made about the fatal shooting of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk earlier in September.
“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang 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,” Kimmel had said on the program.
Rodrigo — who appeared on Kimmel in 2021 and 2023 and teamed up with the program to surprise trick-or-treaters last year — shared her own personal statement denouncing the suspension on Instagram Stories shortly afterward. “So upset over this blatant censorship and abuse of power,” the pop star wrote Sept. 20. “I stand with Jimmy Kimmel and I stand for freedom of speech.”
See the ACLU letter and its list of signees in full below.