Dave Portnoy has gone after Jimmy Kimmel in brutal fashion, blasting the late-night host for framing his suspension as an attack on “free speech” after mocking the assassination of Charlie Kirk. The Barstool Sports founder accused Kimmel of playing the victim and argued he was simply facing the rightful consequences of making “off-color” jokes “before Kirk’s body was even cold.”
Kimmel, 57, returned to the airwaves on Tuesday night after ABC briefly suspended him earlier this month for his inflammatory comments about Kirk’s murder in Utah. Opening his first show back, Kimmel delivered a lengthy and emotional 20-minute monologue, tearing up as he insisted it was never his intention to make light of the MAGA activist’s killing. At the same time, he claimed Donald Trump was trying to silence him, accusing the president of celebrating Americans losing their jobs just because he “can’t take a joke.”
The late-night veteran also admitted Disney, ABC’s parent company, was “taking a risk” in putting him back on television given the political firestorm his words created. Still, he stopped short of issuing a direct apology to Kirk’s family or his supporters, something that left critics fuming.
RELATED: Dave Portnoy Says Jimmy Kimmel Has Only Himself to Blame for Charlie Kirk Remarks
Among the loudest voices was Portnoy, who unleashed on X shortly after the broadcast. “Here is my last point on Kimmel,” Portnoy wrote. “If Kimmel came on and apologized like this the day after his remarks he probably wouldn’t have been suspended. But by all accounts he wanted to double down. Again, for the billionth time this isn’t a free speech issue. He works for Mickey Mouse on NETWORK TV. Nobody said he was going to jail.”
Portnoy continued: “He was dealing with the consequences of making off color jokes about the murder of a guy who meant a ton to a ton of people and blamed it on the very people who love him the most before the body was even cold. So yeah there was outrage that Mickey had to discount with. Then the pendulum swung the other way and they put him back on air. Either way it was never a free speech issue. When you work for somebody else and you offend a ton of people you discount with the consequences. Him framing this as free speech is a joke.”
The controversy has divided the country. Conservative figures, including Trump, doubled down on their outrage at Kimmel’s reinstatement, with the president threatening legal action against ABC and mocking Kimmel’s “ratings collapse.” Kirk’s former co-host Andrew Kolvet also demanded a direct and specific apology, saying anything less was “not good enough.”
On the other side, Hollywood insiders and liberal commentators lined up to defend Kimmel. Actor Ben Stiller hailed the monologue as “brilliant,” while Pod slash America host Jon Favreau called it “outstanding” and urged even Kimmel’s critics to series. Keith Olbermann went so far as to describe it as “the best apology I’ve ever seen.”
Despite Kimmel’s attempt to reset, the fallout from his remarks shows no signs of fading. What began as an offhanded attempt at political humor has spiraled into a national flashpoint—one that continues to pit celebrity, politics, and free speech against one another in a way that has left neither side satisfied.
The post Dave Portnoy Slams Jimmy Kimmel’s ‘Free Speech’ Rant, Says He Mocked Charlie Kirk Before His Body Was Cold appeared first on TMSPN.
This post appeared first on TMSPN
About the Author
