CNN senior political contributor Scott Jennings says he has flagged Keith Olbermann to federal authorities after the liberal firebrand fired off a since-deleted social media broadside that ended with, “You’re next…” Screenshots of the posts circulated widely on Monday, and Jennings publicly signaled the FBI to take a look, igniting a fresh media meltdown in the shadow of Jimmy Kimmel’s turbulent return to ABC.
The blowup started after Disney announced Kimmel would be back on the air six days after suspending him over remarks tied to the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Olbermann celebrated the reinstatement and pivoted to taunting Jennings, a frequent Kimmel critic, with a flurry of posts that critics read as violent and that supporters framed as career-related. “Now we get the fascists off real TV,” one message read, followed by, “That’d mean your career is next, Jennings.” Olbermann then added the profanity-laced “You’re next” line that touched off the FBI tag.
Cc: @FBIDirectorKash https://t.co/4bEXaWfAHv
— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) September 22, 2025
Jennings highlighted a screenshot of the thread and tagged the FBI director by handle, a move that instantly polarized social media. Many conservatives argued the posts crossed an obvious line, especially just weeks after the killing of Charlie Kirk. Others countered that Olbermann was gloating about getting Jennings off television, not threatening physical harm, and that the language was hyperbolic trash talk. The original posts vanished from Olbermann’s feed, but multiple outlets archived images of the exchange before they disappeared.
Olbermann, a former host at MSNBC and ESPN, has long used scorched earth rhetoric online, and his latest streak came as the Kimmel saga turned into a full-blown proxy war over free speech and political power on the airwaves. Disney said it paused Kimmel to avoid inflaming tensions, then reinstated him after “thoughtful conversations,” even as powerful station groups like Sinclair and Nexstar weighed whether to carry the show. The network’s reversal became the backdrop for Olbermann’s taunts and Jennings’ FBI outreach.
Holy sh!t Matt Walsh just bodied Keith Olbermann. pic.twitter.com/iniwxajZSR
— Brian Eastwood (@BrianEastwood_X) September 18, 2025
Media outlets scrambled to pin down intent, which is central to whether a post is a prosecutable threat. Some framed the messages as an apparent threat, while others highlighted the dispute over whether Olbermann was talking about jobs or something darker. Regardless, the phrase “You’re next” lit up timelines because in the current climate, a single line can be read as both career warfare and a physical menace.
Keith Olbermann is having a meltdown… again 🙄 pic.twitter.com/BHEhH8SO1O
— Melissa Hallman (@dotconnectinga) September 23, 2025
The Kimmel controversy has already drawn jaw-clenching statements from Washington, including a warning from FCC chair Brendan Carr that networks could do things “the easy way or the hard way,” rhetoric critics blasted as government muscle against a broadcaster. Against that volatile backdrop, it took only minutes for Olbermann’s posts to become a national story, with Jennings’ FBI tag ensuring the episode now has a paper trail.
A six-day late-night suspension, a snap reinstatement, and one volcanic thread from a veteran pundit have combined into the latest culture war flashpoint. If the FBI even glances at the complaint, expect fresh arguments about where free speech ends and true threats begin, and expect both sides to claim vindication no matter what the bureau decides to do next.
