The backlash to ABC’s suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! grew louder on Friday — and this time, it came from inside the Disney family itself.

Michael Eisner, the former Disney chief executive who ran the company for two decades and left in 2005, broke his silence with a blistering statement posted on X. The 83-year-old executive, remembered for steering Disney through some of its most lucrative years, aimed directly at the current leadership.

“Where has all the leadership gone?” Eisner wrote. “If not for university presidents, law firm managing partners, and corporate chief executives standing up against bullies, who then will step up for the First Amendment?”

A Stinging Rebuke

Eisner’s words arrived less than 48 hours after ABC yanked Kimmel’s late-night show “indefinitely,” a move that followed a wave of pressure from major affiliate owners Nexstar and Sinclair. Both groups announced they would stop airing the show after Kimmel’s comments about Charlie Kirk’s suspected killer.

The suspension coincided with remarks from FCC chairman Brendan Carr, who warned Disney in no uncertain terms: take action on Kimmel, or expect consequences. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said earlier that day.

Eisner, long removed from the company’s boardrooms but still a powerful voice, made it clear what he thought of the timing: intimidation.

Eisner’s Message

“The ‘suspending indefinitely’ of Jimmy Kimmel immediately after the Chairman of the FCC’s aggressive yet hollow threatening of the Disney Company is yet another example of out-of-control intimidation,” Eisner continued. “Maybe the Constitution should have said, ‘Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, except in one’s political or financial self-interest.’”

Then, in a more personal note, Eisner added: “By the way, for the record, this ex-CEO finds Jimmy Kimmel very talented and funny.”

Silence From Disney

Reps for Disney declined to comment on Eisner’s post, which implicitly put pressure on current CEO Bob Iger. For Disney, the silence was telling. Publicly, the company has offered no explanation beyond the vague word “indefinitely,” even as critics and supporters clash over whether the move was censorship or corporate caution.

A Complicated Legacy

Eisner’s tenure overlapped with the birth of Jimmy Kimmel Live! back in 2003. He was still at the helm when ABC launched the program, though he stepped down two years later. His decision to speak out now signals how deeply the suspension has shaken the entertainment world.

Just last year, Eisner had publicly supported Iger during Disney’s proxy fight with activist investor Nelson Peltz, describing Iger’s stewardship as steadying the company. Now, his pointed question — “Where has all the leadership gone?” — lands like a challenge aimed at the very leadership he once endorsed.

The Bigger Picture

The storm around Kimmel has become about more than one late-night host. It is now about networks under pressure, corporate leaders facing tests of principle, and the uneasy balance between business interests and freedom of expression.

Protests have broken out outside Disney offices in New York and Los Angeles. Commentators on both left and right warn that precedent has been set: if political threats can silence one of late night’s most established voices, what’s next?

Closing Reflection

Michael Eisner’s intervention marks a turning point. For critics of Disney’s handling, his words are validation from someone who knows the weight of the CEO’s chair. For supporters of the suspension, they’re an unwelcome reminder that even Disney’s own alumni are questioning the call.

Either way, Eisner’s post cuts through the noise with the bluntness of someone no longer bound by corporate diplomacy. A man who built Disney into a giant now asking, in front of the world:

“Where has the leadership gone?”