October 6, 2025, 6:37 am | Read time: 2 minutes
Between September 17 and 23, 2025, Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ experienced an unusually high surge in cancellations. According to journalist Marisa Kabas (via “Engadget“), the services lost more than 1.7 million subscribers during this period. This figure is about 436 percent above the usual numbers.
Disney+ Cancellations Due to Jimmy Kimmel
The wave of cancellations was triggered by the suspension of U.S. host Jimmy Kimmel. ABC temporarily pulled his late-night show on September 17, 2025. The background was a statement Kimmel made on September 10, in which he criticized U.S. President Donald Trump and the Republican Party.
The host said verbatim: “The MAGA gang is desperately trying to portray the boy who killed Charlie Kirk as someone other than one of their own, and is doing everything to exploit it politically.” After threats from FCC chief Brendan Carr and the show’s removal by partners, ABC enforced the suspension. Although the show returned after six days, by that time, numerous Disney+ subscribers had already canceled.
The more than 1.7 million cancellations represent less than one percent of all Disney+ subscribers, but the timing is considered problematic. Just a few weeks earlier, Disney had promised its investors an additional 10 million subscriptions by the end of September 2025.
Also of interest: Disney+ Raises Prices
Overall, Disney+ and Hulu have around 183 million subscribers (as of June 2025) and remain among the largest streaming platforms worldwide. However, the decline could slow growth. Additionally, Disney has not released separate figures for the individual services since the summer, which has drawn criticism from investors.
Some investors are now demanding access to internal documents regarding Kimmel’s suspension to better understand the management’s decision. This puts the company under pressure once again to create transparency and more clearly disclose the development of Disney+ subscribers.