Pedro Pascal was one of many celebrities who supported Jimmy Kimmel after his late-night talk show was pulled from ABC for jokes related to Charlie Kirk, Donald Trump, and the MAGA movement, which angered conservative viewers and prompted local media conglomerates like Nexstar and Sinclair to issue official statements threatening the Disney-owned broadcast network.
As his social media post started getting a flood of criticism, The Last of Us actor clapped back and doubled-down on his support. Eventually, Pascal wrote "Yay Gay" in the comments section — and his queer fans, obviously, started losing their minds.
Pedro Pascal shares 'Yay Gay' comment in his post in support of Jimmy Kimmel.
Instagram (@pascalispunk)
Earlier this week, Jimmy Kimmel Live! was suspended indefinitely by ABC after local media conglomerates like Nexstar and Sinclair filed official complaints regarding jokes that angered a more conservative crowd.
Pascal — who recently starred in Disney/Marvel's The Fantastic Four: First Steps — took a stance against the decision from ABC, a network that is also owned by Disney.
"Standing with you [Jimmy Kimmel Live!]," Pascal wrote in the caption, using a photo from the March 24 episode of the late-night talk show. "Defend #FreeSpeech. Defend #DEMOCRACY."
The fascination and curiosity around the "Yay Gay" comment is that, unlike other instances, Pascal didn't seem to be directly responding to anyone in particular.
As seen below, the actor had been clapping back at comments like, "Shut up and act" with, "When you shut up and be jolly." He also replied to a more positive comment that read, "Can the haters stop commenting so that he can notice me? Lol love you baby." Pascal replied with an eyes emoji.
Pedro Pascal replies to Instagram comments under a post showing his support of Jimmy Kimmel.
Instagram (@pascalispunk)
Upon further inspection, one can find a few comments that have some homophobic undertones in them.
One of those comments, "Cuz he likes [eggplant emoji]," tries to dismiss Pascal's sentiment by reasoning that "liking eggplants" is why the actor is supporting Kimmel… As opposed to the hundreds of Hollywood A-listers who are also defending the host of Jimmy Kimmel Live! since the talk show was indefinitely suspended.
Still, "Yay Gay" — which has more than 47,000 likes on Instagram — doesn't seem to be written as a clapback to that particular comment — nor to any other comment. Either way, Pascal's queer fans are absolutely losing their minds.
"CLOCK IT, PEDRO [clapping emoji]," "@pascalfanatic wrote on X (3.2 million views; 219,000 likes as of this writing).
@justlokisgirl wrote, "Pedro after being hot, talented, an advocate for Palestine and clocking someone’s tea 24/7."
"It's the no context which makes it so good. Just commenting on his own post saying Yay Gay," @colbridgey wrote.
"Okay yay gay whatevs that mean," @PuppyPascal wrote.
@urbluestdays wrote, "He also commented this under it which i just… Yeah. Yay gay. Enough said."
"'Yay Gay' — Pedro Pascal, 2025," @lcvespascal wrote on X.
Pedro Pascal claps back at critics with 'Yay Gay' — fans are losing it
The Fantastic Four and The Last of Us actor received some pushback from critics in the comments section of his Instagram post.
Pedro Pascal on Jimmy Kimmel Live; Pedro Pascal alongside Jimmy Kimmel on the late-night talk show.