By Dylan Gwinn
Copyright breitbart
Sports talk radio host Dan Le Batard is laying the blame at the feet of Disney CEO Bob Iger for the suspension of late-night talk show Jimmy Kimmel on Wednesday.
As Breitbart News reported on Wednesday, ABC, Disney, and broadcast affiliate Nexstar are pulling Jimmy Kimmel “from all of their stations” after he suggested the assassin of conservative activist Charlie Kirk may be affiliated with MAGA despite evidence indicating he was influenced by left-wing ideologies. Nexstar said Kimmel’s comments were “offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse,” adding it would like to “move toward the resumption of respectful, constructive dialogue.”
Le Batard, who used to work for ESPN back in the woke heydays of the mid-2000s, slammed Iger for his “cowardice” in the face of the Trump administration.
“To see Bob Iger show this kind of cowardice and bend the knee again. Again with Trump. Not the first time. Because what happens here is once you’re a coward who’s extorted, the bully is going to keep extorting the coward.”
“Seeing Jimmy Kimmel not have the protection of something as powerful as Disney because corporate interests in media are filled with such cowardice that you have a situation where not even Bob Iger has the money or the power to stand up to the threat that is presently upon the shores of everyone in media because of how compromised they are by a series of mergers and money interests,” Le Batard said.
“And to see Bob Iger show this kind of cowardice and bend the knee again, again with Trump, not the first time because what happens here is once you’re a coward who’s extorted the bully is going to keep extorting the coward.”
Le Batard is not the only former ESPN host to lash out following Kimmel’s indefinite suspension. Former SportsCenter host and frequently fired political commentator Keith Olbermann called out the Sinclair Broadcasting Group, which brought Kimmel’s show to dozens of television markets, and told them to go to hell, along with Charlie Kirk.
Sinclair Inc. Vice Chairman Jason Smith denounced Kimmel’s comments as “inappropriate and deeply insensitive.”
“Mr. Kimmel’s remarks were inappropriate and deeply insensitive at a critical moment for our country,” said Vice Chairman Jason Smith. “We believe broadcasters have a responsibility to educate and elevate respectful, constructive dialogue in our communities. We appreciate FCC Chairman Carr’s remarks today, and this incident highlights the critical need for the FCC to take immediate regulatory action to address control held over local broadcasters by the big national networks.”
