In the enchanted empire of The Walt Disney Company, where dreams are currency and scandals are the stuff of nightmares, few blows land harder than a one-two punch from the American public and its own tarnished stars. On October 7, 2025, a bombshell poll from Morning Consult dropped like a lead balloon over Burbank, revealing that Disney’s favorability has cratered to its lowest ebb in a decade—plummeting to a net -12% among all Americans, with Republicans clocking in at a venomous -35%. Titled “The House of Mouse in the Crosshairs: A Nation Turns Away,” the survey of 2,500 respondents paints a picture of a once-beloved behemoth now viewed as a politicized pariah, blamed for everything from “woke indoctrination” in kids’ cartoons to “corporate censorship” in prime time. Just weeks after this seismic shift, whispers from the set of Jimmy Kimmel’s ill-fated monologue have erupted into full-blown outrage, with the late-night host’s temporary benching by Disney-owned ABC igniting boycotts, shareholder revolts, and a free-speech firestorm that has Hollywood insiders clutching their scripts in horror. As Disney scrambles to staunch the bleeding—stock down 8% in a fortnight, theme park reservations dipping 15%—the question echoing through the backlots isn’t “Will the magic return?” but “Has the magic been Mickey-Moused into oblivion?”
The poll’s findings, unveiled during a tense virtual panel hosted by Axios and Harris Insights, hit like a villain’s curse. For the first time since the methodology’s inception in 2015, Disney’s RepTrak score—a gold standard metric blending trust, admiration, and recommendation—slid below 50, landing at a dismal 47.2. Among independents, the swing-state arbiters of public sentiment, approval nosedived 22 points to 38%, while Democrats—longtime loyalists—shed 18 points amid grumbles over escalating park prices and “insensitive” handling of recent controversies. “Disney isn’t just losing fans; it’s losing its soul,” declared pollster Carol Gstalder, pointing to open-ended responses rife with barbs: 62% cited “pushing political agendas on children” as a top gripe, 55% lambasted “hypocritical free-speech stances,” and a startling 41% vowed to “cut the cord” on Disney+ within the year. Echoing earlier Rasmussen tallies from January—where 47% deemed Disney’s output “worse than ever”—the data underscores a brand hemorrhaging goodwill faster than a fairy tale fortune.
What catalyzed this cascade? Insiders trace the rot to a perfect storm of missteps, but the Kimmel fiasco stands as the accelerant. On September 15, 2025, mere hours after the shocking assassination of conservative firebrand Charlie Kirk—founder of Turning Point USA, gunned down mid-rally in Orem, Utah—Kimmel took to his El Capitan stage for what would become a monologue etched in infamy. With the nation raw from the attack, claimed by authorities as the work of a lone “anti-MAGA radical,” Kimmel skewered President Trump’s immediate response: a fiery Truth Social post decrying the killing as “deep state justice” and vowing to “clean house in the fake news factories.” Kimmel, ever the provocateur, quipped, “If Charlie Kirk’s the martyr Trump says he is, does that make Mar-a-Lago the new Golgotha? Because last I checked, the Romans didn’t outsource their crucifixions to late-night TV.” He pivoted to the MAGA echo chamber’s glee over the tragedy—”Tweets celebrating a dead kid like it’s Super Bowl Sunday”—before landing the gut punch: “Folks, if this is your idea of patriotism, maybe it’s time to trade the red hats for tinfoil ones. At least those keep the voices out.”
The studio audience tittered nervously, but the internet detonated. Within minutes, #CancelKimmel trended with 1.8 million posts, spearheaded by Trump himself: “Jimmy Kimmel’s poison tongue just earned him a one-way ticket to the unemployment line. Disney, do your job—or lose your licenses!” FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, a Trump loyalist and Project 2025 architect, piled on during a Benny Johnson podcast slot, thundering, “ABC’s airwaves aren’t a bully pulpit for anti-American bile. Revoke their charters if they won’t rein him in.” By dawn, affiliate giants Nexstar and Sinclair—controlling 40% of ABC’s reach—threatened blackouts, citing “viewer revulsion” and potential ad boycotts. Disney, caught in the crossfire, caved: on September 17, ABC announced an “indefinite production pause” for Jimmy Kimmel Live!, framing it as a “thoughtful recalibration amid national grief.” Kimmel, blindsided, fired off a terse statement: “Comedy’s supposed to punch up, not cower down. Disney, you’re the ones looking small now.”
The backlash was biblical. Protests swelled outside Disney HQ in Burbank, with 300 demonstrators—backed by the Writers Guild of America West and AFL-CIO—waving signs like “Mickey Mouse Meets Mussolini” and “Free Speech or Free Fall?” Celebrities mobilized: Ben Stiller tweeted, “Disney built an empire on imagination—now it’s surrendering to intimidation?” Pedro Pascal and Mark Ruffalo signed an ACLU petition amassing 450,000 signatures, while Rosie O’Donnell hosted a viral livestream fundraiser for press freedom groups, quipping, “If they can silence Kimmel, who’s next—Goofy?” Even Barack Obama weighed in, sharing op-eds on X: “Democracy thrives on dissent, from Kirk’s rallies to Kimmel’s riffs. Censor one, and you chain us all.” On the flip side, conservative heavyweights like Tucker Carlson hailed the suspension as “a win for decency,” with Turning Point USA launching a “Kimmel-Free America” merch line that sold out in hours.
Financially, the fiasco was a bloodletting. Disney shares cratered $4.2 billion in market cap over 48 hours, with advertisers like Procter & Gamble and Coca-Cola yanking $120 million in spots from ABC’s lineup. Streaming metrics for Disney+ tanked 28% week-over-week, as #BoycottDisney surged to 3.5 million mentions, complete with screenshot montages of canceled subscriptions. Shareholders, smelling blood, unleashed hell: On September 24, the American Federation of Teachers and Reporters Without Borders fired off a demand letter to CEO Bob Iger, accusing the board of “breaching fiduciary duties by prioritizing political appeasement over shareholder value.” Citing the stock plunge and affiliate revolts, they sought minutes from emergency huddles, emails with FCC brass, and revenue projections—threatening a Delaware Chancery Court suit if unmet by October 1. By deadline, Disney stonewalled, prompting filings that could drag Iger into depositions by year’s end.
The poll, conducted September 28-October 3 amid the maelstrom, captured this visceral disgust. Respondents skewered Disney’s “spineless kowtowing to bullies,” with 58% agreeing the suspension “eroded trust in the brand forever.” Polarization peaked: Republicans, already frosty from “woke” remakes like the Snow White reboot, viewed Disney as “a liberal echo chamber silencing its own.” Democrats, stung by perceived betrayal of Hollywood’s free-speech ethos, flipped from +22% net favorability to -9%. “It’s like watching your cool uncle sell out to the schoolyard tyrant,” lamented one 35-year-old from Ohio, a former annual passholder now hawking his MagicBand on eBay. Theme parks felt the pinch: Early October bookings at Walt Disney World slumped 17%, with Florida families citing “creepy corporate drama” as the deterrent. Even Pixar animators, in anonymous leaks to Variety, decried a “chilling effect” on scripts, fearing greenlights now hinge on “Trump-proofing.”
Iger, the silver-haired steward who’s navigated strikes, streaming wars, and DeSantis dust-ups, finds himself in the hottest seat since his 2020 return. In a leaked all-hands memo, he vowed “unwavering commitment to creative integrity,” but insiders whisper of boardroom bloodbaths: Dana Walden, ABC’s entertainment chief, faces whispers of demotion, while FCC liaisons scramble to soothe Carr’s ire. Kimmel’s reinstatement on September 23—after “candid dialogues,” per a terse ABC release—drew 6.26 million viewers, a 40% spike, but his opener was a masterclass in mea culpa mixed with middle fingers: “Miss me? I missed paying my writers. And apparently, so did Disney—until America reminded them why we fight.” The crowd roared, but the damage lingers; affiliates like Sinclair persist in blacking him out, fragmenting his reach.
Broader ripples threaten Disney’s fairy-tale facade. The poll spotlights a generational chasm: Gen Z, at 29% favorability, blasts “hypocritical inclusivity” post-Zegler meltdown, while boomers cling to 55% nostalgia. Globally, the brand weathers better—EU sentiment holds at +18%—but U.S. woes dent international parks, with Tokyo Disneyland reporting a 12% dip in American tourism. Analysts at Jefferies forecast a “reputation recession” persisting through 2026, unless Disney pivots: “Ditch the politics, double down on whimsy,” urges one report, eyeing successes like Inside Out 2‘s billion-dollar haul. Yet with Moana 2 looming and Star Wars spin-offs in flux, the pressure mounts—will Iger course-correct with “wholesome reboots,” or double down on diversity decrees?
As October’s chill settles over the studios, Hollywood buzzes with schadenfreude and sympathy. Late-night rivals like Seth Meyers mock Disney as “the company that turned ‘Let It Go’ into ‘Let It Snowball,'” while Colbert’s quip—”Mickey’s ears aren’t the only things flopping”—draws Emmy-bait laughs. Protests persist, now with counter-demos from Kirk’s acolytes chanting “Kimmel Killed Comedy.” For Disney, the path forward is a tightrope: reclaim the magic without igniting more matches. The poll and the pause aren’t just headlines—they’re harbingers. In a nation cleaved by culture wars, the House of Mouse must decide: be the storyteller who unites, or the empire that divides. One thing’s certain—America’s not dreaming of happily ever afters anymore. They’re demanding them.
