Pressure is mounting on the Walt Disney Company and its CEO, Bob Iger, to stand up to the Trump administration after ABC’s decision to suspend late-night host Jimmy Kimmel for “insensitive” comments about the man accused of shooting Charlie Kirk. 

Disney has been facing backlash from left-wing commentators — and some conservatives — over the Kimmel situation. Last week, the late-night host said a “MAGA gang” was “desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them.”

Two days after that comment was made, Disney chose to suspend Mr. Kimmel, which led to left-wing calls for a boycott. However, Disney later said that while it found the comments “insensitive,” it had “ thoughtful conversations with Jimmy,” and it decided to bring his show back.

Still, liberals remain irked over the initial decision to suspend Mr. Kimmel. A former executive producer at ABC, Ian Cameron, who is married to a member of President Obama’s inner circle, Susan Rice, joined up with ABC’s former transportation correspondent, Lisa Stark, to spearhead a letter written by more than 100 former ABC News journalists to Mr. Iger, urging him to stand up to the Trump administration.

The letter, which was first reported by CNN, praised Mr. Iger for bringing back Mr. Kimmel’s show, saying it was “an important statement that political intimidation should not dictate ABC’s programming.”

“Yet, it must be just the first step,” the letter says. “Disney has both the responsibility and the opportunity to lead by standing firmly against capitulation and in defense of democratic values.”

The signatories of the letter are a who’s who of the bygone days of ABC News, when the network was a titan in the news business. They include the celebrity White House correspondent  Sam Donaldson as well as the widow of Peter Jennings, a former “20/20” producer, Kayce Freed Jennings. The letter criticized Disney’s decision in December to pay $16 million to settle President Trump’s defamation lawsuit against ABC.

Mr. Trump sued the network after ABC News star George Stephanopoulos falsely and repeatedly said the president had been “found liable for rape.” While media reporters conceded that the statement was false, they suggested that it would have been hard for Mr. Trump to show Mr. Stephanopoulos had acted with actual malice — the standard required for defamation cases involving public figures — and suggested Disney should have gone to court.

However, Disney had been losing motions in the Florida court where the lawsuit was filed, and faced an ugly discovery process that would have made public Mr. Stephanopoulos’s private texts and emails. The settlement avoided those potentially ruinous circumstances, and was also seen as an olive branch by Mr. Iger to try to improve relations with the then-incoming administration.

The letter from the former ABC News journalists states, “The $16 million settlement with Donald Trump, combined with the absence of a strong public defense of ABC News journalists under attack, has emboldened Administration efforts to intimidate the press.”

“Your legacy includes a reputation as a staunch defender of the essential role of journalism in a healthy democracy. We urge you now to reaffirm that legacy by: Making clear that ABC News—and Disney—will not be silenced or intimidated by political pressure; Publicly and unequivocally defending ABC journalists against political attacks; Aggressively pushing back against government efforts to undermine the First Amendment,” the journalists’ letter says.

The decision to organize the letter after Mr. Kimmel’s suspension comes as Mr. Obama posted on X that media companies should stand up to the Trump administration. 

“After years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn’t like,” Mr. Obama said. “This is precisely the kind of government coercion that the First Amendment was designed to prevent — and media companies need to start standing up rather than capitulating to it.”

The allegation that Disney was coerced by the government to suspend Mr. Kimmel appears to be a reference to comments made by the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, who said Disney could take the “easy way” and voluntarily handle the Kimmel situation, or the “hard way,” which involves more “work” for his agency.

Mr. Carr later said he was not making a threat against Disney, but was merely stating that an individual could file a complaint, which would require the FCC to investigate. 

While left-wing commentators fumed over the decision to suspend Mr. Kimmel, conservatives criticized Disney for bringing the late-night host back without making him apologize for his comment. 

A spokesman for Kirk’s Turning Point USA, Andrew Kolvet, posted on X, “Not good enough. Jimmy, it’s simple. Here’s what you need to say: ‘I’m sorry for saying the shooter was MAGA. He was not. He was of the left. I apologize to the Kirk family for lying. Please accept my sincere apology. I will do better. I was wrong.’”

Meanwhile, Mr. Trump appeared to threaten to sue ABC again. Hours before Mr. Kimmel’s show aired on Tuesday, Mr. Trump posted on Truth Social, “I can’t believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back. The White House was told by ABC that his Show was cancelled! Something happened between then and now because his audience is GONE, and his “talent” was never there. Why would they want someone back who does so poorly, who’s not funny, and who puts the Network in jeopardy by playing 99% positive Democrat GARBAGE.”

“He is yet another arm of the DNC and, to the best of my knowledge, that would be a major Illegal Campaign Contribution. I think we’re going to test ABC out on this. Let’s see how we do. Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 Million Dollars. This one sounds even more lucrative. A true bunch of losers! Let Jimmy Kimmel rot in his bad Ratings,” Mr. Trump added.

Disney did not respond to the Sun’s request for comment by the time of publication.