Former ESPN Star Blasts Disney For Jimmy Kimmel Suspension

Le Batard asserted that it's part of a larger problem that the media have shown recently in making large payouts to Trump, starting with George Stephanopoulos. He believes that the United States is running "dangerously close to state-run media" and likened it to his own family's upbringing in Cuba under the Fidel Castro regime.

“And when (they) gave Trump $16 million on something that Stephanopoulos said, they opened the doors now to all of media feeling like it needs to capitulate to a threat and now you get dangerously close to state-run media,” he added.

“And I will tell you as someone who descends, grandparents and parents, from a childhood filled with ‘you can’t trust the media, it’s all propaganda,’ I’ve never seen in my lifetime America in the position it’s presently in where the media is running this kind of scared from power as if we’re not a place that one of the chief principles is free speech."

The Jimmy Kimmel Suspension

Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show Jimmy Kimmel Live! was suspended indefinitely by ABC on September 17, 2025, after Kimmel made controversial remarks during a recent monologue about the killing of Charlie Kirk. Kimmel suggested that “many in MAGA land are working very hard to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them… doing everything they can to score political points.”

The comments triggered backlash from conservative media and broadcasters. Nexstar Communications, which owns many ABC-affiliated stations, pulled the show from those stations, calling Kimmel’s remarks offensive and insensitive. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr condemned the remarks and warned of potential regulatory action against ABC and Disney.