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Former Cincinnati Reds star Zack Cozart on Wednesday cheered Disney’s decision to yank comedian Jimmy Kimmel off the air after controversial comments about Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
Disney confirmed to Fox News Digital that ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” was being pulled “indefinitely.”
“The tide is turning,” Cozart wrote on X, “keep the pedal to the metal.”
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Cincinnati Reds shortstop Zack Cozart (2) against the Miami Marlins at Great American Ball Park. (Aaron Doster/USA TODAY Sports)
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.
Kimmel’s remarks immediately sparked backlash as they 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.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr then issued a threat against Disney if it didn’t address the controversy.
TENNIS LEGEND MARTINA NAVRATILOVA REACTS TO JIMMY KIMMEL BEING PULLED OFF AIR AFTER CHARLIE KIRK COMMENTS
Jimmy Kimmel, the host of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” during the show on June 16, 2025. (Randy Holmes/Disney via Getty Images)
Appearing on Wednesday’s “The Benny Show,” Carr called Kimmel’s comments “some of the sickest conduct” and suggested there were potential “avenues” the FCC could pursue.
“In some quarters, there’s a very concerted effort to try to lie to the American people about the nature … of one of the most significant newsworthy public interest acts that we’ve seen in a long time in what appears to be an action by Jimmy Kimmel to play into that narrative that this was somehow a MAGA or a Republican-motivated person,” Carr told host Benny Johnson.
Nexstar Media Group, which owns hundreds of television stations, announced earlier it would preempt Kimmel’s show on its ABC affiliates starting Wednesday night “for the foreseeable future” and would replace it with other programming over his comments about Robinson.
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.
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The conservative influencer’s funeral is set for Sept. 21, in Glendale, Arizona.
Fox News’ Jackson Thompson and Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.
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