Michael Eisner, an ex-CEO of The Walt Disney Company, the parent company of ABC, on Thursday condemned the controversial decision of the network’s leadership to pull Jimmy Kimmel’s show off the air “indefinitely” following threats by the Trump administration, asking: “Where has all the leadership gone?”
Brendan Carr, the chair of the Federal Communications Commission and an ally of President Donald Trump, had warned ABC’s leaders there would be consequences for the network and its affiliates if they didn’t take action to discipline the late night host over some comments he made on his show Monday, criticizing conservatives’ response to right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said on a right-wing podcast two days later.
Eisner expressed frustration at the reluctance of corporate leaders and others in powerful positions across the board to defy the Trump administration and stand in support of free speech, seemingly taking a jab at his successor in the Disney CEO position, Bob Iger.
“Where has all the leadership gone? If not for university presidents, law firm managing partners, and corporate chief executives standing up against bullies, who then will step up for the First Amendment?” he asked in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
