Disney suspended Kimmel, reversed in days, then raised Disney Plus prices

In September 2025, Jimmy Kimmel's monologue comment on the political reaction to Charlie Kirk's death enraged conservative viewers, and FCC Chairman Brendan Carr — speaking on a podcast — threatened regulatory intervention unless broadcasters acted. Rather than ignore the threat, Disney had ABC pull Jimmy Kimmel Live! from the schedule 'indefinitely'.

The suspension alarmed nearly everyone else: the Writers Guild picketed Disney's headquarters, a Democratic FCC commissioner called it 'cowardly corporate capitulation', and celebrities — Tatiana Maslany, then hundreds of actors including Tom Hanks, Robert De Niro and Jennifer Aniston — backed calls to cancel Disney Plus, Hulu and ESPN. Days later Disney reversed and Kimmel returned — reigniting the right, with influencer boycott calls. Dozens of Sinclair- and Nexstar-owned affiliates kept preempting the show, and President Trump threatened to 'test ABC out'.

Into that fire, Disney announced a Disney Plus price rise effective October 21, 2025 — the ad-supported plan from $9.99 to $11.99 a month, ad-free from $15.99 to $18.99. It was the second consecutive October hike, stacked on top of a password-sharing crackdown. As The Verge put it: if the Kimmel situation didn't push people to unsubscribe, yet another price increase just might.

Boycott calls from both political sides, public subscription cancellations, and a Disney Plus price rise landing mid-outrage.

Disney folded to a regulator's pressure instead of riding it out — the suspension itself created the crisis on both flanks.

The reversal days later converted one outrage into two, handing each side proof of the other's victory.

The price hike — following an October 2024 rise and a password-sharing crackdown — gave angry customers a concrete, immediate exit action.

A subscription business's churn follows its reputation in real time, and social media made cancellations a visible, shareable protest.

Capitulation doesn't buy peace — it buys a second fight with the other side, so never stack a price rise into an open credibility crisis.

Kimmel returned to ABC on Tuesday night with the host calling Carr's threat 'a direct violation of the First Amendment', while dozens of Sinclair and Nexstar affiliates continued to preempt the show. The price rise takes effect October 21, 2025.