Editor’s note: Andor writer Dan Gilroy won his first Emmy for the Season 2 episode titled “Welcome to the Rebellion,” which featured Mon Mothma’s anti-fascism speech to the Senate [watch it below]. His Disney+ series was front of mind Thursday at Disney HQ in Burbank where the Writers Guild and more were protesting the company’s decision to suspend Jimmy Kimmel Live after it faced warnings from the FCC and major station group preemptions over his Charlie Kirk comments. Some of the writers’ signs read “Did you even watch Andor?” and “This is literally what your show Andor is about.”
As one of the writers on the Disney+ drama Andor, we spent six years thinking about a fascist takeover of a galaxy far, far away. Six years thinking about ordinary beings as an authoritarian regime comes in for the kill. Many people saw parallels between Andor and the real world. I see them as well, particularly in the events of the last week.
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Donald Trump’s twin tools of governance, coercion and intimidation, have found focus on Hollywood. Faced with a social media firestorm, fear, and an FCC head threatening “they can do this the easy way or hard way,” Disney suspended Jimmy Kimmel for speaking his mind. I deeply disagree but acknowledge it was a difficult decision. If you believe otherwise, wait until fate knocks on your door and demands you choose between conscience and hardship — because if you work in this industry that day is coming.
The suspension bought time, but not much. Disney now stands at a crossroads: terminate Kimmel’s contract and become pavement for the road to a brave new Trumpian world; or stand for the First Amendment and take the onslaught. There’s not much at stake, just free speech, the oxygen that sustains life in this town.
Trump’s aim is to control what we make and say. The concept seems far off and abstract. Neither is true. Is it hard to conjure a new oversight office or cabinet seat? Is it difficult to picture Trump toadies deplaning at LAX with binders of banned topics and mandated alternatives? You’ll meet them when you have to pitch for approval or get grilled about subversive co-workers.
Regardless of how the jack-booted attack on Jimmy Kimmel is resolved, this isn’t a skirmish. It’s a siege. The first thing Putin did after taking power was silence shows that criticized him. Artists are censored first because they fear us most. The fact this isn’t new doesn’t diminish the shock of the last few days. The majority in Hollywood believed their job was entertainment — the bolder souls attempted to inject theme and commentary — but for everyone this has suddenly become Westworld real.
Whether you’re reading this on line at Blue Bottle or killing time before your 3 o’clock Zoom or staring at a glowing screen unable to sleep, we have all become characters in a story where our actions carry actual weight and consequence. Our industry faces the most sophisticated, venomous, creeping evil in America’s history. There’s no standing above this conflict. No impartial observers. If you’re on the sidelines you’ve made a choice and must live with it.
Their goal is to instill fear, to make you feel helpless, hopeless, to break you down. Don’t let them. Educate yourself. Organize. Speak truth to authority. Because the story’s not written — the pen is in your hand.
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