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Former ESPN and MSNBC host Keith Olbermann extended his torrent of controversial social media attacks this week, this time taking aim at current ESPN star Stephen A. Smith.
Smith weighed in on ABC’s decision to indefinitely pull Jimmy Kimmel off the air for recent remarks about Charlie Kirk’s assassination, during an episode of his podcast on Thursday. Smith criticized his Walt Disney Corporation colleague Kimmel.
“Where was the joke? Because you’re a late-night host — and obviously that has a comedic attachment to it. Where was the joke? Obviously, it wasn’t anything funny about that,” Smith said of Kimmel’s joke that got him pulled off the air.
Olbermann condemned Smith for criticizing Kimmel, suggesting the sports pundit is “prostituting himself to the right wing.”
“Just adding to what has been true for years: [Stephen A. Smith] is a f—ing idiot. And now he smells money prostituting himself to, and collaborating with, the right wing,” Olbermann wrote in a post on X.
Olbermann has been under scrutiny in recent days for a controversial X post targeting Kirk and Sinclair Broadcast Group criticizing Kimmel.
Olbermann responded to Sinclair’s statement, which said that Kimmel’s suspension from his ABC late-night show was “not enough.”
Sinclair called for ABC to air a remembrance for Kirk in lieu of Kimmel’s show after the conservative influencer was shot and killed last week.
“Burn in hell, Sinclair,” Olbermann wrote on X. “Alongside Charlie Kirk.”
Social media users slammed Olbermann’s post.
The former MSNBC talking head continued to share thoughts about the Kimmel situation. He referenced the remarks that led to Kimmel’s discipline, posting that “Nothing Jimmy Kimmel said was untrue.”
LIBERALS RAGE AS ABC PULLS JIMMY KIMMEL OFF AIR FOLLOWING CHARLIE KIRK ASSASSIN COMMENTS
On Monday, Kimmel accused conservatives of reaching “new lows” in trying to pin a left-wing ideology on 22-year-old suspect Tyler Robinson, even though prosecutors reaffirmed those ties in Tuesday’s indictment.
“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said.
Smith, while criticizing Kimmel’s attempted joke, expressed sympathy for the “comedian” but still insisted Kimmel’s antagonism toward President Donald Trump is not “wise.”
“To hear the news of Jimmy Kimmel being taken off the air, I was not happy about it. Not at all,” Smith said. “Because I do think he’s a good man. I do think his heart is in the right place. I do think he’s done an incredible service to the ABC and Walt Disney family spanning decades.
“I certainly hope that ultimately he ends up back on the air, and if he doesn’t end up back on the air, I hope he lives a very long and well and prosperous life.
“Having said all of that, that doesn’t mean I’m not entitled to say that what transpired between him and [President Donald Trump] didn’t appear to be the wisest move in the world.”
Kimmel’s comments came one day after both FBI officials and Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said that Robinson held a “leftist ideology” and was increasingly radicalized in recent years. It was also revealed that he had a romantic relationship with a transgender partner who was biologically male and transitioning to female.
Kirk, 31, was shot and killed last week while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University. Thousands of people have mourned his death in vigils across the U.S.
Kirk’s funeral is set for Sunday in Glendale, Arizona.
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