Hollywood Reacts to ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ Being Canceled

Actor and comedian Ben Stiller used just a few words to describe his feelings about the show’s suspension.

Reposting an X post by The Wall Street Journal’s journalist about the news, Stiller wrote, “This isn’t right.”

The Zoolander actor made the post on Wednesday evening.

Actor and comedian Wanda Sykes made a reel on Instagram to criticize the Trump administration.

In the reel, posted on Wednesday evening, she said she had a full face of makeup on because she was set to go on Kimmel’s show.

“But as you have heard by now, the Jimmy Kimmel show has been pulled indefinitely, abruptly, because of complaints from the Trump administration,” Sykes said.

She said Trump had ended freedom of speech within his first year of his term.

Sykes ended the reel saying, “Love you, Jimmy.”

Paul Scheer, an actor, comedian, and podcaster, protested the show being pulled from ABC.

Near midnight on Thursday, Scheer posted on Threads about the show’s suspension, musing on why ABC could not air the show on its cable affiliates like ESPN.

Alex Edelman, a comedian, actor, and writer, made a series of posts on X about Kimmel’s show being taken off the air.

“The Paper” actor first posted about it on Wednesday evening, saying, “This is the actual cancel culture everyone claims to hate so much.”

He then criticized the government, accusing it of pressuring ABC to fire Kimmel.

Shortly after midnight, he posted, “The joke I would like to make about the Kimmel situation is one I, apparently, can only text to close friends.”

Actor Jean Smart, known for her role in the comedy-drama “Hacks,” posted about the suspension on Instagram.

“I am horrified at the cancellation of Jimmy Kimmel Live,” she said. “What Jimmy said was FREE speech, not hate speech.”

“People seem to only want to protect free speech when it suits THEIR agenda,” Smart said. She added that she was sickened by Kirk’s shooting.

Comedian and actor Kathy Griffin took to Instagram to urge fans and fellow entertainers to rally behind Kimmel.

“Please, take it from me, it’s very important to have Jimmy Kimmel’s back right now,” she wrote.

Griffin called on people to “be vocal” and “be an ideological consumer,” adding that “money is all their crowd cares about.”

Griffin has long been a staunch critic of Trump, and during his first term, attracted widespread condemnation after posing with a mask depicting his severed head.

Actor and activist Sophia Bush, best known for her role on “One Tree Hill,” condemned the cancellation in a post on X.

She wrote, “The First Amendment doesn’t exist in America anymore.”

“Fascism is here and it’s chilling,” she added.

Supermodel and actor Christie Brinkley, best known for her decadeslong career in fashion and film, posted an Instagram story expressing her support for Kimmel.

She shared a photo of late-night hosts John Oliver, Seth Meyers, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, and Jimmy Fallon, writing: “I Love these guys!

“The laughter they provide us is as important as the air we breathe!” she said. “And they are taking another one of them off the air tonight!” 

Brinkley added: “We must protect their and our First Amendment rights!!!”

Comedian, actor, and former daytime talk show host Rosie O’Donnell shared a photo of Kimmel on Instagram alongside an expletive-filled caption in which she slammed the administration and corporate executives.

“This is unacceptable,” she wrote, later adding, “America is no more.”