During an in-depth interview on In Depth with Graham Bensinger, former Disney CEO Michael Eisner talked about the Jimmy Kimmel suspension scandal and the ABC-Trump settlement.
Last year, Disney-owned ABC temporarily suspended Jimmy Kimmel over comments he made about Charlie Kirk. The show was ultimately suspended for about a week, returning after public outcry — including from Eisner.
Eisner posted on X just two days after Kimmel’s suspension:
Where has all the leadership gone? 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? 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. 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.” By-the-way, for the record, this ex-CEO finds Jimmy Kimmel very talented and funny.
Where has all the leadership gone? 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? The “suspending indefinitely” of Jimmy Kimmel immediately after the…
— Michael Eisner (@Michael_Eisner) September 19, 2025
The opening line, he told Bensinger, was inspired by the anti-Vietnam War song “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?”
“I was just finally fed up with universities, law firms,” Eisner said about why he made the post. “I left law firms that had made deals with the administration. I thought that was bad. I didn’t think I had any voice anymore, really, so it didn’t matter what I did.”
He was surprised when three million people had contacted him by the next day. He said, “They just thought it was the greatest thing in the world, that somebody finally stood up.”
Eisner added, “It wasn’t that necessarily that Disney had done this, although it was my alma mater. It was a series of events, particularly with the law firms and then the universities.”
Bensinger asked Eisner about media companies settling lawsuits with Trump.
“I didn’t like any of that,” Eisner said. “I thought the CBS settlement was ridiculous. I think ABC’s settling, paying him $16 million.”
Trump sued ABC for defamation over comments made by George Stephanopoulos on This Week. The network ultimately agreed to pay the president $16 million, plus “make a statement of regret.”
Eisner wondered what he would have done in CBS or ABC’s situation, saying, “I would like to think that I wouldn’t have settled like CBS did, like law firms did. But maybe I would have. Maybe the, just the taking away your funding or not letting you buy a company… It wasn’t the money. Because $17 million for Disney is meaningless. But the image of it.”
Watch a segment of the interview with Eisner below.
The interview also involved Eisner visiting Disney headquarters in Burbank, California for the first time since 2005 and how he dislikes how expensive the parks are these days.
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