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Oscar Isaac has said he is “not so open to working with Disney” in the wake of Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension, with the Star Wars actor saying he’d only consider working with Disney again if the company doesn’t “succumb to fascism”.
Asked in a GQ interview published Monday whether he’d consider returning to the Star Wars franchise, in which he played X-wing fighter pilot Poe Dameron across three films from 2015 to 2019, Isaac said, “Yeah. I mean, I’d be open to it, although right now I’m not so open to working with Disney. But if they can kinda figure it out and, you know, not succumb to fascism, that would be great … if that happens, then yeah, I’d be open to having a conversation about a galaxy far away. Or any number of other things.”
GQ noted the Isaac interview, published on Monday, was conducted two days after Kimmel was suspended, and four days before he returned to air on 23 September.
Kimmel was suspended from late-night TV by ABC and Disney in September over comments he made about the Trump administration’s response to the killing of Charlie Kirk on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, including: “The Maga gang [is] desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them.”
Brendan Carr, the pro-Trump chair of the Federal Communications Commission, then threatened the licenses of Disney and local broadcasters who aired Kimmel’s show, saying on a conservative podcast: “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”
Trump hailed Kimmel’s suspension as “great news for America”. When he was reinstated, Trump wrote on social media: “I can’t believe ABC … gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back” and insulted the network as “a true bunch of losers!”
Isaac is one of many actors and prominent figures who have criticised Disney, which owns ABC, over the decision. Several stars and creatives who have worked with Disney and ABC, including Pedro Pascal, Mark Ruffalo and Olivia Rodrigo, publicly expressed support for Kimmel and condemned the decision to suspend him, which the New York Times reported was made by Disney CEO, Bob Iger, and Disney’s head of television, Dana Walden.
Tatiana Maslany, who plays She-Hulk in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, urged followers to cancel their subscriptions to Disney-owned services such as Disney+, Hulu and ESPN, while showrunner Damon Lindelof, creator of the ABC series Lost, said he would not work with Disney+ again unless it put Kimmel back on the air.
Disney+ and Hulu cancellation rates reportedly doubled after Kimmel’s suspension.
Carr will testify in December before the Senate commerce committee about whether he put pressure on broadcasters to take Kimmel off the air. Senator Ted Cruz, the committee chair, has previously called Carr’s comments “dangerous as hell”.
