https://ci3.googleusercontent.com/meips/ADKq_NYlgQeDHO7vPV2AuUWWWoK2FV9GyHRY5TOTFw7Wx3RrsLEzpm9eASNgERkwLgLBeSl6RE0aEpbCuiUhVUHsccSX-GZqB4wjx1J7U521dzhPU0CIXSPOsRTTVM6GUUeCvxgV_JjIGHCjBbVrDX-tRvlivN13nneQSbcaVRe2iUwhThwiGK_a-RObHI65kQVSBaNJ3dMUFE1vuMGZ84ssSmpI2FwWSW7Auvz9oTNHWYZw8Iyhtst1wHMHfguu0eJDRqBGovz26RfCFOEzc9nHRV25JbxBoMtkLZ-41ZkKXk1KY82f7atpDCtjyKFl0-wBxeYrci0=s0-d-e1-ft#https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!1R9W!,w_1100,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb6a57520-ed5e-4dfa-b85c-0353775f87b1_594x396.jpeg Jimmy Kimmel (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images) Disney appears to be standing by its favorite “comedian,” ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, as Donald and Melania Trump call for his dismissal over a joke about Melania looking like an “expectant widow.” “Kimmel’s defenders say Disney must hold fast and defend his right to free speech,” our Chuck Ross writes. “But the famously left-wing Walt Disney Company has in recent years taken a different stance when it comes to its tiny handful of conservative stars.” In 2021, Disney fired Mandalorian star Gina Carano over a series of tweets that culminated in a comparison of conservatives living in America to Jews under Nazi Germany. That same year, it pushed out longtime Bachelor host Chris Harrison after he defended a contestant who attended an Antebellum-themed party. Three years earlier, Disney-owned ABC canceled Roseanne Barr’s hit reboot over the conservative comedian’s provocative tweets, calling them “abhorrent, repugnant, and inconsistent with our values.” Disney has been more forgiving of Kimmel, both in the case of the Melania joke and when Kimmel falsely suggested that a “MAGA gang” was behind the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Disney signed Kimmel to a contract extension in the wake of the Kirk remark and is “absolutely standing by him” again amid the Melania controversy, according to CNN media reporter Brian Stelter. “That’s stoked allegations that the network maintains a double standard when it comes to statements from its liberal and conservative employees,” writes Ross. “‘They have a history of punishing free speech, but it depends on what the narrative is,’ former ESPN host Sage Steele told Fox News’s Jesse Watters on Tuesday. Steele was sidelined by the Disney-owned sports channel in 2023 for criticizing the company’s vaccine mandates.” READ MORE: Disney Double Standard: Media Giant Protects Trump-Bashing Jimmy Kimmel After Canceling Conservative Stars From ‘Roseanne,’ ‘The Mandalorian’ and ‘The Bachelor’