Aniston Defends Kimmel, Says Disney+ and Hulu Exodus Sent a Message

Jennifer Aniston is speaking out about what she sees as a troubling trend in entertainment and free speech.

In a new Elle magazine interview for its Women in Hollywood issue, the actress said it was “very dangerous” that ABC took Jimmy Kimmel off the air after comments he made about the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Aniston, who has been close friends with Kimmel for years, said the move showed how fragile open conversation has become. “Unthinkable things are happening,” she told Elle. “It’s very dangerous and very unfortunate. But at the end of the day, we’re the viewers. We subscribe to these networks and streaming services, so it really comes down to the people and their voices. All those subscription cancellations spoke volumes.”

The Friends star was referring to the backlash that followed Kimmel’s brief suspension in September.

Reports from research firm Antenna showed that Disney+ and Hulu, both owned by Disney (which also owns ABC), saw a sharp rise in cancellations that month. Disney+ reportedly lost about 8% of its subscribers in the U.S., while Hulu’s cancellation rate hit 10%. Both numbers were roughly double what they had been in the two months before.

When Kimmel returned to his show on September 23, he apologized, saying he never meant “to make light of the murder of a young man.” His removal from the air, though brief, sparked anger across Hollywood.

For Aniston, the issue goes deeper than one network or one controversy. She said people have lost the ability to communicate and understand each other.

“We all need to listen to both sides,” she said. “That’s what we’ve lost. We’ve lost communication, we’ve lost sitting across a table and having a discussion that is productive, learning from each other. It feels like everyone is sort of stuck in their positions and it’s my way or the highway, and that’s just not how the world works.”

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