The Great Disney Drop

Well, well, well! September 2025 brought quite the drama for Disney. Imagine waking up one day and realizing you’ve lost nearly 3 million subscribers on Disney+. Yup, that’s not your average Tuesday. That’s a massive jump from the regular 1.2 million folks who wave goodbye each month. What could cause such a catastrophic subscriber exodus, you ask? Well, it turns out it all started with a certain late-night host hitting the political hornet’s nest.

Kimmel’s Controversial Comments

So, here’s the scoop: Jimmy Kimmel made some eyebrow-raising remarks about the MAGA community following the assassination of activist Charlie Kirk. Naturally, a storm of outrage ensued, and before you could say “what’s trending on Twitter?”, ABC (owned by our beloved Disney) decided to pull Kimmel’s show for a whole six days. Talk about a timeout! This decision, they claimed, came under pressure from some serious heavyweights – think politicians and affiliate groups who weren’t exactly fans of Kimmel’s latest antics.

Protests and Outrage

But wait, it gets spicier! The late-night comic’s suspension ignited a firestorm. Fellow comedians like John Oliver and Stephen Colbert jumped in, urging folks to bail on their Disney+ and Hulu subscriptions. Even Howard Stern, who never shies away from a good rant, took a swing at Disney, calling this move a major faux pas. Over 400 entertainment professionals signed an open letter pleading with ABC to let Kimmel back on air and kick political pressure to the curb!

Sinclair Chimes In

On the flip side, we had the Sinclair Broadcast Group, which owns over 30 ABC stations, demanding that Kimmel stay off-air unless he tossed a heartfelt apology to Kirk’s family and maybe even slipped them a few bucks. Yikes! Talk about playing hardball!

Kimmel’s Comeback

After all that hullabaloo, Kimmel made a triumphant return on September 23, pulling in a whopping 6.2 million viewers. That’s like having a concert with front-row seats sold out – talk about a comeback! However, despite the record numbers, Disney+ was still nursing fresh wounds from that subscriber bleeding. They did see a bit of a silver lining, with new sign-ups creeping up from 1.99 million in August to 2.18 million in September, but let’s be real—the retention numbers are likely to keep Disney up at night.