Jennifer Aniston, Ben Affleck & 400 Celebs Sign Letter Defending Free Speech After Jimmy Kimmel Suspension

More than 400 celebrities — including Jennifer Aniston, Ben Affleck, Tom Hanks, and major Disney stars like Selena Gomez, Pedro Pascal, Diego Luna, Martin Short, and Meryl Streep — have signed an open letter in support of Jimmy Kimmel amid his indefinite suspension from late-night television.

The letter, published by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Monday, September 22, defends the constitutional right to free speech just six days after Disney’s ABC abruptly pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live! off the air.

“We the people must never accept government threats to our freedom of speech,” the letter begins. “Efforts by leaders to pressure artists, journalists, and companies with retaliation for their speech strike at the very heart of what it means to live in a free country.”

The statement calls Kimmel’s suspension “a dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation,” accusing the government of threatening private companies in an attempt to silence critics. “Our government has resorted to threatening the livelihoods of journalists, talk show hosts, artists, creatives, and entertainers across the board,” it continues. “This runs counter to the values our nation was built upon, and what our Constitution guarantees.”

The signatories also highlighted that Kimmel is not the only one under attack, noting that “teachers, government employees, law firms, researchers, universities, students, and many more” have faced similar threats to their freedom of expression.

“Regardless of our political affiliation — or whether we even engage in politics — we all love our country,” the letter reads. “We also share the belief that our voices should never be silenced by those in power. Because if it can happen to one of us, it can happen to all of us.”

The letter concludes with a call to action: “This is the moment to defend free speech across our nation. We encourage all Americans to join us, along with the ACLU, in the fight to defend and preserve our constitutionally protected rights.”

Other major names on the letter include Jason Bateman, Robert De Niro, Jane Fonda, Elizabeth Banks, Olivia Rodrigo, Ben Stiller, Jean Smart, Jamie Lee Curtis, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Michael Keaton, Regina King, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Natalie Portman, Maya Rudolph, Mark Ruffalo, and Kerry Washington.

Kimmel’s show, which he has hosted since 2003, was yanked by ABC hours before its September 17 broadcast. The decision followed a controversial monologue he delivered earlier in the week about the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, the 31-year-old Turning Point USA founder and conservative commentator.

Kirk was shot and killed on September 10 during a campus event at Utah Valley University. Two days later, officials announced they had arrested a suspect, Tyler Robinson, who now faces aggravated murder charges and six additional counts.

“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 said during his September 15 monologue. “In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving.”

Kimmel also commented on the White House’s decision to fly flags at half-staff. “On a human level, you can see how hard the president is taking this,” he said, before airing a clip of Trump speaking to reporters about Kirk’s death.

When asked how he was holding up, Trump replied, “I think very good, and by the way, right there where you see all the trucks, they just started construction of the new ballroom for the White House.”

Returning to the camera, Kimmel quipped: “Yes, he’s at the fourth stage of grief — construction.”

Nexstar Media president Andrew Alford criticized Kimmel’s comments as “offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse.” Nexstar, the largest local broadcast and digital media company in the U.S., said Kimmel’s words did not “reflect the spectrum of opinions, views, or values of the local communities in which we are located.”

Alford said the decision to pull Jimmy Kimmel Live! was made “to let cooler heads prevail” and encourage “respectful, constructive dialogue.”

The suspension coincided with Nexstar’s announcement of its $6.2 billion acquisition of rival broadcaster Tegna, a merger that would give the company a presence in 80% of U.S. TV households and is still awaiting final FCC approval.

FCC Chair Brendan Carr praised the move, saying broadcasters are right to “push back on Disney programming that falls short of community values.”

Sinclair Broadcast Group, which owns the largest group of ABC affiliates in the country, also condemned Kimmel’s remarks. “Mr. Kimmel’s comments were inappropriate and deeply insensitive at a critical moment for our country,” Sinclair vice chairman Jason Smith said in a press release.

Sinclair laid out conditions for Kimmel’s return to air, including formal discussions with ABC about its commitment to “professionalism and accountability,” a public apology to Kirk’s family, and a “meaningful personal donation” to Turning Point USA.

Meanwhile, former President Trump — during a state visit to the United Kingdom on September 18 — celebrated Kimmel’s suspension, saying the host was “fired for lack of talent.”

“Jimmy Kimmel was fired because he had bad ratings more than anything else and he said a horrible thing about a great man named Charlie Kirk,” Trump said. “Jimmy Kimmel is not a talented person, he had very bad ratings, and they should have fired him a long time ago.”