Is Jimmy Kimmel Shut Down Costing Disney Billions? Let’s Look At the Evidence.

Another day, another Jimmy Kimmel topic. As you likely know, Jimmy Kimmel’s show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” was placed on indefinite hiatus over comments the host made about the political leanings of Charlie Kirk’s killer.  It was not initially Disney’s decision, but rather their ABC affiliate owners, Nexstar and Sinclair, who pulled the show. Disney then put it on hiatus till something could be figured out.

Immediately, Hollywood had a fit and asked people to boycott Disney and cancel subscription services because Kimmel was removed. Now the media is claiming that the firing of Jimmy Kimmel led to massive losses ($3.87 billion) for Disney. Some are even claiming billions have been lost, but they don’t provide evidence for these numbers.

Is this true? Let’s examine the situation.

The stocks

Many are pointing to the stocks and saying that they are plummeting because people agree that Disney was wrong in firing Jimmy Kimmel.

While they are dropping and are down to $113.76 at the time of this article, they are not hitting lows that Disney has seen just this year. The stocks have only dropped a couple of dollars since this incident, while not great it is far from the “win” people are claiming.

The stocks were lower than this price last month, around the earnings call. 

Compared to April’s drop down to $83.30, this drop is minor.

Year to date, the stock has been this price or lower more than it has been this price or higher, so it is not that big of a deal.

Other than a bit in December/January, and until July-September has the stock been high over the current price. Four months out of eight months it’s been at about the same price or lower.

Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ cancellations

This is a trickier metric because Disney does not release their numbers, and we only get official confirmation around earnings call times. Since the quarter / fiscal year ends on September 30, 2025, we may get a better look at the actual losses from that earnings call.

However, a boycott may be hitting Disney in this sector. Many of their customers are families in the middle and those on the left/ far-left.  While they have conservative customers, many have cancelled their Disney subscription services in the past over things like DEI, Gina Carano’s firing, the decline of “Star Wars”, Disney’s constant price hikes, etc.

Given that a lot of the subscribers would likely be on the left, this could cause them some damage.

Hollywood demands

Hollywood is overwhelmingly demanding that Disney put their friend back on the air, with even some Disney working celebrities joining in the calls for streaming cancellation. While it may get Kimmel put back on the air, it will likely push Disney to give AI much more consideration.  The same people have been concerned that Disney would replace various film/TV related jobs with AI and at this point, my opinion is that Disney will do it sooner rather than later.

The irony over the situation is noticable. Hollywood that said people have the right to freedom of speech but not freedom of consequence when other known right-leaning celebrities were canceled for comments. Now the same people are screaming about “freedom of speech” and “fascism” when it was one of “their own.”

I do not think Kimmel should have been fired, but a retraction and apology should have been made, as others have had to do.  That being said, studios need to  handle these situations evenly moving forward.

“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” was in decline before the hiatus.

Disney may have been looking for a reason to remove the show. CBS already cancelled Steven Colbert’s show due to the declining viewership and cost. Ratings indicate that Colbert’s show was the highest-rated nighttime show.

According to Nielsen numbers, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” had dropped 43% since January, hitting only 1.1 million total viewers for August.

Advertising in the coveted 18-49 demographic also fell. Kimmel was down to only 129k viewers from a peak of 284k in June.

Meaning his show costs a lot and returns are shrinking drastically as many have moved away from late-night television. Current estimates have late-night viewership down 70%-80% from 2015.

Yet these hosts and Hollywood demand studios keep paying for them, but they are likely creating losses. Frankly, there are many mid-range YouTubers who get far more views per week. YouTube is taking over TVs, beating Disney.

Disney could have moved “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” over to Hulu, Disney+, or even YouTube, but they didn’t. Instead, they used the opportunity to stop the show. Even if they bring the show back, the viewership will likely start strong and eventually fall off a cliff again in several months.

Is Disney losing billions over “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”

It is unclear because we do not yet know how many have actually cancelled their subscriptions.  As far as stocks go, Disney has been below the current stock value for 2/3 of the year before the “boycott.” All things considered, the stocks are not dropping significantly.

The media is not providing numerical data to back up their “billions in losses” estimates. I have provided data for what I could.

Ultimately, Disney will likely reinstate “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” at the end of the day. If they do, I hope lessons are learned and those crazy for cancel culture stop and reflect on where it has led. Studios need to enforce rules evenly. I hope that the political divisiveness stops.

I think the same individuals who have cheered for cancel culture over the last several years will continue to demand it from others.  “Rules for thee but not for me.”