Angelina Jolie criticizes US censorship, says she doesn’t recognize her country

The Oscar winner’s comments come days after the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel by ABC and Disney, a decision heavily criticized by major stars including Pedro Pascal and Olivia Rodrigo.

Angelina Jolie has said "I don’t recognize my country" amid the threats to free speech in the US, saying "anything anywhere that divides or limits personal expressions and freedoms from anyone, I think, is very dangerous."

At Spain’s San Sebastián film festival on Sunday, the Oscar-winning actor was asked by a journalist: "What do you fear as an artist and an American?"

"It is a very difficult question," Jolie replied. "I love my country, but at this time, I don’t recognize my country. I’ve always lived internationally, my family is international, my friends, my life.

"My worldview is equal, united and international. Anything anywhere that divides or limits personal expressions and freedoms from anyone, I think, is very dangerous."

She added: "These are such serious times that we have to be careful not to say things casually. These are very, very heavy times we are living in together."

While Jolie didn’t name the late night host, her comments came days after Jimmy Kimmel Live! was suspended "indefinitely" by ABC, which is owned by Disney. Kimmel was suspended after Brendan Carr, the chair of the Federal Communications Commission, criticized comments made by the late-night host about the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s fatal shooting, including: "The MAGA gang [is] desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them."

Jolie has appeared in several Disney projects, including Maleficent and its sequel Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, and as the superhero Thena in The Eternals, part of Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

Several Disney stars and prominent figures including Olivia Rodrigo, Pedro Pascal and Mark Ruffalo have voiced dissent and criticized the decision to suspend Kimmel, which the New York Times reported was made by Disney CEO Bob Iger and Disney’s head of television Dana Walden.

Mark Ruffalo, who plays the Hulk in the MCU, wrote on Threads that Disney’s stock will "go down a lot further if they cancel" Kimmel’s show permanently.

"Disney does not want to be the ones that broke America," Ruffalo wrote.

And on Sunday, while speaking on a video for the anti-Trump "No Kings" protest planned for 18 October, Ruffalo said: "It is the US government that is now suppressing the freedom of speech. It is the US government, not your neighbors, not someone on social media. It is the government doing it now."

"And that’s where we all have to come together, because authoritarian regimes, fascist regimes have to degrade our freedoms more and more over time until we’re living the smallest, the most frightened, the most secretive lives. Think of yourselves living under the Taliban, because that’s where we’re headed," the actor added.

Pedro Pascal, who starred in Disney’s Fantastic Four: First Steps this year and will appear in two major Disney films next year (The Mandalorian and Grogu and Avengers: Doomsday), wrote on Instagram that he is "standing with" Kimmel, adding: "Defend #FreeSpeech Defend #DEMOCRACY."

Tatiana Maslany, who plays She-Hulk in the MCU, called for her followers on Instagram to "cancel" their Disney+ subscriptions, while Damon Lindelof, a Hollywood showrunner and creator of the ABC series Lost, pledged he would not work with Disney+ again unless it put Kimmel back on the air.

"I was shocked, saddened and infuriated by yesterday’s suspension and look forward to it being lifted soon. If it isn’t, I can’t in good conscience work for the company that imposed it," Lindelof wrote on Instagram.

Olivia Rodrigo, who rose to fame on the Disney shows Bizaardvark and High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, wrote that she was "so upset over this blatant censorship and abuse of power" and that she stood with Kimmel.

And in a column for Deadline, Dan Gilroy, who won an Emmy last week for his writing on the Disney+ show Andor, wrote of seeing parallels between the show’s depiction of a "fascist takeover" and Trump’s America.

"Donald Trump’s tools of governance, coercion and intimidation, have found focus on Hollywood," Gilroy wrote. "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."