Sports’ straight shooter Stephen A. Smith turned on his Disney colleague Jimmy Kimmel after the late-night talk show host was suspended indefinitely.
Kimmel was pulled off the air ‘indefinitely’ by ABC on Wednesday over his divisive comments regarding the assassination of political commentator Charlie Kirk, who was shot dead in Utah last week.
The veteran host’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! has been removed from the network ‘for the foreseeable future,’ a spokesperson announced.
Disney owns both ABC and ESPN, which Smith has called home since 2003.
And the ‘First Take’ star hit out at Kimmel on Thursday when he spoke out on the chat show host’s removal.
‘The only thing that I would say as it pertains to Jimmy Kimmel is, where was the joke?’ Smith said on his SiriusXM show Straight Shooter.
Stephen A Smith (L) broke his silence on Jimmy Kimmel’s (R) ABC suspension on Thursday
‘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 later took a softer stance when addressing the scandal on his eponymous YouTube show, turning his attack on ABC.
‘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. Now, what am I talking about? I’m talking about Jimmy Kimmel on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ the other night.’
Kimmel made controversial statements about Kirk on Monday following his assassination last week at Utah Valley University – and said during his monologue that the ‘MAGA gang’ was trying to gain political points over Kirk’s murder.
‘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,’ the host said.
Kimmel was removed from the air over his comments about Charlie Kirk’s assassination
Kirk (pictured with his family) was a co-founder of the political nonprofit Turning Point USA
The suspected shooter Tyler Robinson, 22, has since been taken into custody and appeared in court on Tuesday on multiple charges, including aggravated murder.
Kimmel also falsely insinuated that Robinson was conservative – despite investigators stating he has far-left ideologies and was also in a romantic relationship with his transgender roommate.
The network’s affiliate group, Nexstar, additionally shared on Wednesday that it ‘strongly objects’ to Kimmel’s comments and ‘will replace the show with other programming in its ABC-affiliated markets.’
Kimmel was reportedly set to address his remarks on his show Wednesday night, before he received news that he had been axed, according to Deadline.
