- Disney counts the cost of his week’s long suspension of US talk show host Jimmy Kimmel
- The entertainment giant reportedly lost 1.7 million users while he was out of air
- Furious fans closed their Disney+, Hulu and ESPN accounts in the middle of the row
Disney has apparently felt the full force of fan power after millions of people canceled their streaming subscriptions in the middle of Jimmy Kimmel saga.
Yesterday (September 29), a new report from freelance journalist Marisa Kabas, who owns and operates the handbasket newsletter, seemed to put the award on the American TV-Talkshow host host’s week-long suspension.
For those who may have missed one of the greatest entertainment stories from recent times: on September 17, Kimmel who hosts Jimmy Kimmel Live!was removed from a public point of view for comments he made about Charlie Kirk during the September 15th edition of his talk show. The controversial political activist was murdered during a visit to Utah Valley University on September 10.
In the midst of the furious setback to Kimmel’s temporary firing, angry Disney+ and Hulu users with their wallets and canceled their subscriptions to help force Disney to reintroduce the popular entertainer. Almost a week after Kimmel was down from presenting tasks, and in the midst of a mounting pressure from Hollywood stars and Disney shareholders, Disney reintroduced the veteran -tv personality.
SCOOP/UPDATE-DISNEY saw more than 1.7 million total paid streaming annulations in the period 9/17-9/23, a Disney source confirms to me. The total amount includes Disney+, Hulu and ESPN.
– @marisakabas.bsky.social ( @marisakabas.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2025-09-30T09: 42: 18.209z
The full impact of this cancellation campaign has emerged in the wake of the Kimmel saga. Taking to Bluesky yesterday (September 29), Kabas suggested that 1.7 million people cancel their Disney+, Hulu and ESPN subscription after Kimmel was temporarily pulled out of the air. That’s 700,000 more users than Kabas, previously reported in September 23, 2025, edition of her online newsletter.
The nearly two million figure may seem like a fall in the sea for a titana like Disney. From August 2025, when Disney released its Q3 2025 earnings report, it had a total of 207.4 million users over Disney+, Hulu and ESPN.
However, the context of this decrease of 1.7 million is extremely significant. This is because, according to Kabas’ source, Disney allegedly lost that many subscribers in the seven-day period, running 17 to 23 September.
To further highlight the effect that this mass immigration seems to have had, Reddit users have pointed to the impact of Disney’s economy. If, as some commentators have suggested, these 1.7 million people were signed up for the cheapest Disney+ level -DVS. The AD-supported option-Disney just reduced its guaranteed monthly income by $ 17 million.
Of course, the situation may be more full than that. Some of those who went away from some of the world’s best streaming services would have been subscribed to each platform’s more expensive ad-free levels, or even one of Disney’s cost-saving mega bundles. It is so possible that Entertainment Behemoth will have lost even more money than many are aware of.
Disney’s problems are also far from over. Per Deadline demands the furious shareholders continue to answer the company’s handling of the Kimmel situation, where some apparently seemingly preparing to have a legal challenge over a sharp downturn in the value of their shares after the series.
Meanwhile, the price of each Disney+ and Hulu Tier is set to rise again from October 21, which can lead to further cancellations of the subscription. In fact, some users may consider the now annual price increases to be too much for them and choose to close their accounts in the middle of the sky-high streaming service costs.
It would be fascinating to learn how many subscribers Disney lost everywhere when its Q4 2025 earnings are released. Unfortunately, the company will no longer release this data in public (per variety), so we never know how hard it was hit over the media storm that enveloped it and Jimmy Kimmel.
