I didn’t know that there was still anything to fire Keith Olbermann from, at least in the media sphere.
Olbermann — the strident, unpleasant lefty best known for his stints at MSNBC and ESPN — has pretty much burned bridges with every major media organization that has hired him.
But, no — apparently he’s still employed by iHeartMedia, the broadcast and digital media conglomerate best known for turning your favorite radio station into a clone of every other radio station on the dial. In addition to that, they’ve given the noxious Olbermann a second lease on life as a podcaster.
That may change by the time you finish this article, however.
In response to news that a media corporation that owns numerous ABC affiliates won’t re-air Jimmy Kimmel’s late night show until he issues a full apology for his remarks on the Charlie Kirk assassination, Olbermann posted that the company should burn in hell — just like Kirk, he added.
Kimmel was suspended Wednesday by ABC after a monologue earlier in the week in which he claimed that Kirk’s shooter was a conservative: “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,” he said.
Jimmy Kimmel claims “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” and “This is not how an adult… pic.twitter.com/KMhnskaYWD
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) September 16, 2025
However, Sinclair Broadcast Group — the largest owner of ABC affiliate stations — said that no matter when Kimmel returns from his “indefinite” suspension, it won’t be on their stations unless he issues a full apology to the audience and the Kirk family.
Will iHeart Radio fire Olbermann for the outrageous comment?
In response to this, Olbermann — no stranger to tanking his own career — decided to do it again.
“Burn in hell, Sinclair,” he said on X. “Alongside Charlie Kirk.”
Burn in hell, Sinclair.
Alongside Charlie Kirk. https://t.co/VjRfmUKXXK
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) September 18, 2025
The blowback was immediate and brutal. The more printable responses were basically along these lines:
Looks like it’s time to get in touch with @iHeartRadio pic.twitter.com/1IFG5PMLY6
— Kain Enable (@kainXenable) September 18, 2025
The less printable ones, meanwhile, tended to involve people advising Mr. Olbermann in rather unambiguous language to perform a physically impossible feat; we’ll just leave it there.
Then there was this humorous (and true) proposed community note on the post:
No mention of where Olbermann is going, because I think we all can kind of guess that.
However, a longer response by pseudonymous pundit DataRepublican managed to go viral for addressing why this wasn’t canceling Olbermann, but protecting both conservatives and Olbermann himself.
Excerpts:
I cannot bring myself to do a snarky post, not when you have revealed yourself to have so much hatred in your heart. …
Charlie Kirk was our lamb.
He built an entire career on talking to college students, peacefully. On preventing nonviolence. And on engaging others in constructive dialogue.
For that, he got the most gruesome death possible.
And we watched masses of Democrats dance gleefully on his grave. And the media gaslight us into thinking that it’s our fault somehow that he died. In short, pulling all the same tricks we saw which oppressed us in 2020. …
Our Takeaway: You Want Us To Die.
At some point, we have to draw a line.
We aren’t cancelling you for the same arbitrary reasons you cancelled us in 2020. We are cancelling you because if we don’t, then you actually will kill us, and the country is going into civil war.
In short, we are cancelling you to save you.
Hello Mr. Olbermann,
This is going to be a different “Hello” than usual.
I cannot bring myself to do a snarky post, not when you have revealed yourself to have so much hatred in your heart.
Let me try and explain to you in a way that you can accept this, if there is any…
— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) September 18, 2025
While Olbermann has always been a hateful individual, I never thought he’d actually cheer on someone’s death. This is odd, because I pretty much have the lowest possible expectations for the man. But here we are.
Olbermann needs more than a time out for this. The issue with Democrats dancing on the graves of dead Republicans isn’t just that it’s beyond offensive, although it’s certainly that. It’s a dog whistle, at least — and more realistically, just a whistle — toward cultural civil war. If the left wants to prevent it, it’s time to back off, and with all due alacrity.
ABC realizes that. Sinclair realizes it. Jimmy Kimmel will realize it when he figures out he doesn’t have another well-remunerated gig out there that will allow him to spread lies about alleged assassins.
As for Olbermann, he’s already burned the bridges he’s on and several others with potential employers who he’s scared off; iHeartMedia will probably give him the Kimmel treatment, if not worse — and after that, he has even fewer options.
Still think it was worth it, Keith?
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