() Over 400 celebrities signed an open letter decrying the now-ended suspension of Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show and calling for an end to “retaliation” against free speech, writing that it “strike[s] at the heart of what it means to live in a free country.”

The open letter was released with the American Civil Liberties Union and includes famous names like Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, Jamie Lee Curtis, Robert DeNiro, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Selena Gomez, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Tom Hanks, Regina King, Diego Luna, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Olivia Rodrigo, Amber Ruffin, Martin Short, Ben Stiller, Meryl Streep, Kerry Washington and many more.

The letter further states, “Regardless of our political affiliation, or whether we engage in politics or not, we all love our country. We also share the belief that our voices should never be silenced by those in power – because if it happens to one of us, it happens to all of us. This is the moment to defend free speech across our nation.” 

Kimmel’s suspension followed comments he made on his late-night show in the wake of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s murder. The chair of the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, who had previously denounced censoring late-night comedians, threatened affiliate broadcast licenses if they aired Kimmel’s show. Nexstar (’s parent company) and Sinclair, both of which own many affiliate stations, said they would take Kimmel off the air, an action that led ABC to indefinitely suspend Kimmel.

In a statement, the executive director of the ACLU, Anthony D. Romero, said in part, “We now find ourselves in a modern McCarthy era, facing exactly the type of heavy-handed government censorship our Constitution rightfully forbids. The silencing of Jimmy Kimmel and jawboning of media outlets through lawsuits and threats to their licenses evoke dark memories of the 1950s.”

He then called for Americans to stand up to the actions by the administration and fight for their voices to be heard.

The Walt Disney Company announced Monday it will resume production of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on Tuesday after suspending the late-night talk show last week over what the company called “ill-timed and insensitive” comments.