The Josh Innes Show - Teams That Didn't Honor Charlie Kirk Sunday

Episode Date: September 16, 2025

Here in Detroit, the Lions chose to not honor Charlie Kirk prior to Sunday's game. This didn't bother me. It feels like the people who scream the loudest about keeping politics out of sports and entertainment, have no problem with it when their politics are being represented. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

All right. So yesterday on the radio show, which again has a long way to go. The radio show needs new listeners. I don't know why. But this is, again, one of the more difficult situations. Not one of the more. This is the most difficult radio situation I've ever been in. It's fun. It's a challenge. But there are days that it is disheartening because you feel like you're putting out good shit. You're doing good topics. You want good interaction. And there's just nobody. They don't call. They don't text. But if you're giving away a bag of shit, somehow 30 people are calling. And can I tell you this? The prize pig situation at this radio station is next level. Like, apparently these people have a group of people that they just call themselves prize pigs. And they all, like, share their strategies with everything on how to win prizes from the radio station. Like, and these people just call nonstop. And, like, I've given this, I've given tickets to the same woman three times.

times in the last three weeks. And I got her on the phone, and I'm like, ma'am, I don't know if you're allowed to win. You can only win once every 30 days. And this woman goes, nope, that's not true. I know the rules. And I have been told that you don't have to wait 30 days to win anymore. So I asked my boss about it. I'm like, so can people just win like every day in theory if they wanted to?

And they're like, yep, that's what we do now? Like, what? Like, it used to be if somebody won once, you'd be like, nope, you can't win this. month. You have to wait 30 days. Nope. I have, like, I have given this person tickets to, like baseball tickets, Adam Sandler tickets, Papa Roach tickets. This person should just turn around and sell these fuckers. They are stub hub. They are tick pick. They are tickets now. Tickets for less. This person just keeps winning tickets from me. So it is a disheartening situation to say the least. I'm not, I'm not giving up on it. I'm not down on it. But there

days where you're like this was a really good fucking topic and it just got no traction. I've done one topic that got phone calls since I've been here. And like I understand that phone calls aren't the end all be all. But when you're riding solo and you're trying to get interaction and helps move the show along and no one calls and you're like, fuck, at least I've got Pat Benatar to fill some of the time. But that topic was whether or not kids should have mandatory gun safety classes in schools, because Tennessee is doing that, and I wanted people's feedback, and the phone lines blew up on that. So with that in mind, I figured something that would blow up was a topic about Charlie Kirk.

And one of the topics was, do you think the Lions made the right choice by not honoring Charlie Kirk before the game? They were one of the handful of teams that didn't. I think Indianapolis didn't. Baltimore didn't. and I think there were a couple others, but Nashville did, New Orleans did, the Jets did. I mean, a lot of the teams in the league did. I think Miami did, Kansas City did.

They all honored Charlie Kirk, whereas Baltimore, Indianapolis, and Detroit specifically, did not. And I'm okay with that. Well, first of all, let me play a couple commercials and we'll get into it. During the Volvo Fall Experience event, discover exceptional offers and thoughtful design. that leaves plenty of room for autumn adventures. And see for yourself how Volvo's legendary safety brings peace of mind to every crisp morning commute. This September,

leased a 2026 XE90 plug-in hybrid from $599 biweekly at 3.99% during the Volvo Fall Experience event. Conditions supply, visit your local Volvo retailer or go to explorevolvo.com. So I'm fine with that because the same piece, People that bitch about politics invading sports or politics invading entertainment are the first people then that are going to say, what did you honor Charlie Kirk? I mean, Charlie Kirk is literally just a political figure, and he's not even a politician.

He's a dude that's a pundit. He's a talking head about, he was a talking head, about politics, right? He was a podcaster about politics. And I get it. I talk to guys like Jim Mud who tell me that Charlie Kirk was the young. generations Rush Limbaugh. Cool. I'm not judging the guy. It's gross what happened, right? And I'm sure there are many viewpoints this guy had that I'd probably agree with. I've never heard them because I'd never listen. So I didn't know. But I understand how big of a deal this guy was

to certain right-wing people. But at the end of the day, he was a guy that talked about politics. And he was a guy that helped get Trump elected. And he helped sway young voters. And I get all that. and he was big on college campuses and he was controversial and I get all that. But I feel like the same people who really hate politics and sports when it's hands up, don't shoot, when it's Michael Brown's stuff,

when it's Colin Kaepernick. And I'm not saying you have to agree with those things, mind you. And I would agree with you if you said, all the league's just afraid, so they pander. 100%. With end racism in the end zone, that's pandering. With Kaepernick's shit, there's pandering. Like, I'm not, like when the Rams came out with their hands up, hands up, don't shoot.

That is pandering. 100%. And these leagues are all afraid of their own shadow as well. Like, they're afraid if they don't honor, like if they don't honor that George Floyd we keep hearing about. Well, they probably felt that if they didn't honor George Floyd, they'd face a much harsher backlash than you're giving them about them not putting a Charlie Kirk tribute up. So, of course, they count out to certain groups of people and they pander. Of course they do. That's life.

It's always going to be that way. If you sit there and cry about the double standards of some things, you're just going to be crying forever. Certain double standards are never going to go away and are never going to change. You can fight them, but they're not going to change. Fine. You can say that that's a defeatist attitude or whatever. It's just reality, man.

And the same people who were bitching about politics. And they now hate Bruce Springsteen because he's political. and the same people who ate John Mellencamp because he's political. And the same people who love Kid Rock because his politics are what they agree with. So they love that Kid Rock is free to speak his mind on his show and have a message from Trump. But they also hate Kaepernick and they also hate the politics that's invading ESPN. And yet, you're asking NFL teams to honor a guy who was essentially just a right-wing media guy. Again, I'm not trying to minimize or minimize what the guy's a guy's a guy.

accomplishments were. That's not my point. But my point is, at the root of it all, you're asking NFL teams to hold a moment of silence for a gentleman who was essentially a political talk radio host. And as I asked yesterday, in the heart of Rush Limbaugh being Rush Limbaugh, do you anticipate that the NFL would have stopped down games or had moments of silence for Rush Limbaugh? My guess is no. So the expectation that the NFL must do this, I think is off. Now, it doesn't change the fact that it's a sad story and it doesn't change the fact that it's gross and it doesn't change the fact that it was a political assassination and it

doesn't change the fact that it shows just how fucked up a lot of people are and it's only going to get worse. But if, like, I don't think your expectation should be. Like, what is the line? Where do you draw the line on what the expectation is for someone being shot and killed? I mean, there are people that get shot and killed every day. The woman that got stabbed on the train. was just as gross.

And I understand that the woman that got stabbed on the train wasn't a political figure, wasn't a celebrity, but there wasn't a moment of silence for her before a football game. And if teams want to do that, it's their prerogative. They can. But the idea that you're some misguided, dreadful organization if you don't. Now, where they'd cry hypocrisy and they'd be accurate is all of those teams came out and defended George Floyd and honored George Floyd. Yes. And are they pandering? Yes. Are they more afraid of that audience being pissed off than of you right wingers being pissed off? 100%. They don't want to bother fucking with that. That's not a fight they want to have. That's why end racism was in the end zones and everything else. They'd rather cowtow and pander to the leftist side of things 100%. They know that eventually you'll go on about your day and have other shit to do where you're not going to sit there and constantly big.

Or at least they thought that way. Maybe you do now. Maybe you do just constantly bitch about this shit. And people are trying to get other people fired. Like every day there's some new story about some group or some person who has gotten somebody fired and they're proud of it. That they've gotten somebody fired over their disdain for Charlie Kirk. Now, I agree that it's gross and pretty heinous and bad to celebrate somebody dying. Okay?

I wouldn't do it. I'm not going to sit there and go, yay, this person is dead because I don't believe that this person was a Nazi or Hitler, just like I don't believe Trump is a Nazi or Hitler. So I'm not going to celebrate this person's death. But I try to put myself in the position of people. And I go, like, what is it? Like, they must really believe that this person was terrible. Why? Well, the reason they believe this person is terrible is because media people have convinced them that Trump is the devil.

And if Trump is the devil or Hitler and his little army of people are Nazis that follow Hitler, then stopping them is good for the betterment. I'm going to guess that like in the case of me, someone who has no idea what Charlie Kirk said about anything because I just never followed it because I don't care. I would say that a large number of people that are like celebrating the death of Charlie Kirk probably have no clue what 99% of the stuff the guy said was about. They just read something on the internet. They're like, yeah, fuck this guy. He's a Nazi. Like this person, Washington Post opinion columnist Karen Adia says she was fired over Charlie Kirk Post. Well, let's see what her posts were.

In a post on substack, she said she was being silenced following the series of posts that focused on gun control and race following Kirk's assassination. Quote, as a columnist, I used my voice to defend freedom and democracy, challenge power. and reflect on culture and politics with honesty and conviction. Now I am the one being silenced for doing my job. She only referenced Kirk in one of her posts on Blue Sky. I also don't really know what Blue Sky is. Is that like where the, is that like liberal truth social? Is that like where we took our ball and ran to?

Like all the people that went to the Trump social media? Is that like truth social? We're taking our tweets and we're running to Blue Sky. In that post, the columnist shared a screenshot of a quote in which Kirk said several prominent black women, including First Lady Michelle Obama, did not have the brain processing power to be taken really seriously. You had to steal a white person's slot. And then you see shit like that.

Like, again, hear me out. I'm not defending all these people who are getting fired over their comments, right? Although if you are a person that supports the First Amendment, like you say you do, then, like, you shouldn't be rooting for people to get fired because of their dumb tweets or their dumb comments. And maybe that's an out-of-context quote. I don't know the whole quote. But if there is a commentary in there and you are sharing a quote and the quote is basically,

or the quote is quote, the black women do not have the brain power to be taken really seriously. You had to steal a white person slot. Like that kind of shit is divisive. Is it not? Again, not celebrating that the guy is dead. Don't know enough about him to know enough to have a strong opinion one way or the other on what his beliefs were. if I agreed with them or disagreed with them. But if you look at right-wing people, right-wing people have essentially taken this dude

and they've turned him into like the most perfect human that ever walked the face of the earth and the liberal people have turned him into the fucking devil. So let's continue. When contacted by USA Today, a Washington Post spokesperson declined to comment saying the media outlet did not comment on personnel matters. In a series of posts, the Washington Post Guild condemned the firing, calling it a wrongful firing, and saying that they would stand with her. That's the other thing. I understand that the new thing right-wing people are talking about is how, like, there is a freedom of speech, but there isn't a freedom of consequence or something like that, right? That's kind of like the hip thing that people are talking about now.

I was like, well, there's going to be consequences for what you say, which is fine. There should be consequences. Like, that's the way the world works. I'm allowed to say whatever I want, but if I get fired, I'm allowed to go on the air and say that a certain sponsor is fucking terrible at everything, and I think their food sucks and everything else. That sponsor could also be a company that pays a million dollars a year to IHeart Radio, and if I say something about them, they have no qualms with firing the guy that's making a paltry sum of money compared to the million dollars that's being spent by that company. They have the right to do that. They can fire me. Like, everybody, like, I think we have too many people who lack the, not even foresight.

They, like, they can't see the big picture. Like, in their little pea brains, there are so many people out there, particularly radio, like young radio people who tend to be morons. They go out there and they're like, I got to fight this and I'm allowed to say what I want to say because I believe it to be the truth. It is my truth that I can say it. Yeah, but maybe your boss doesn't see it that way, Chief. I'm not trying to defend the man here. But, like, again, if I got on the radio today and I went on a long diatribe about whatever the biggest spending company was, a company that spends millions of dollars with IHeartRadio, I am a tiny little drop in the bucket for this company. I don't make any money relative to what I used to make, and I certainly don't make money relative to the millions of dollars that are being spent by big money clients, right?

So, like, let's just say Jim's discount DVD players is a big client, and they're spending a million and a half dollars a year, two million dollars a year. So a huge fucking sum of money with IHeart Media in Detroit. And I got on the radio, and I'm like, let me tell you about these cock suckers over at Jim's discount DVD players. And I just start going off about how they're terrible and whatever. Before I turn the microphone off, there would be somebody that's in management that would come in here and say, yeah, fuck off. Because at the end of the day, I'm not that important. I'm not that big of a deal. I'm a drop in the bucket. They can put somebody on here to do my job tomorrow. Part of maturing is realizing that you're not that important. And I think that there's a lot of people who refuse to acknowledge that.

Who can't accept that or just too delusional to accept it. And a lot of them work in radio and a lot of them are in their 20s and they're morons. They think that they're a bigger deal than they are and they should be on the air spouting off. their political beliefs because their social media wants them to. Well, your boss doesn't want you to, and you're not important enough to fight for. Now, if you make yourself important enough to fight for, Charlemagne's a pretty important part of iHeart media, right, with the Breakfast Club. Their show is basically all politics and like hip-hop drama. It's hip-hop drama and politics.

It's basically, here's why white people suck, volume 472. And also, these two people are beefing. but he's important and they're not going to fire him because he means more to the bottom line. Josh Yiddish doesn't mean shit. Like, I mean, that's part of being real, right? That's not me demeaning myself. Like, that's reality. I'm on like a 14th place radio station.

Now, if I get this station in number one and we're making money, then I'm important. Today I'm not. I'm just another dude. And they like me. And I like that they like me. But, and we like each other. But at the end of the day, if they fired me tomorrow, if I said something controversial, that they didn't like about a client or something, and they said, yeah, I get the fuck out of Dodge.

I could sit there and fight and say, this is an outrage. But deep in my heart, I know, like, yeah, that's probably the right move. Like, I'm just realistic about these things, and a lot of people are not. And a lot of these people that are getting fired from their jobs over comments about Charlie Kirk because they think they're doing the right thing. They think that they are speaking their truth and they are speaking what's right and fair and just. Well, the person that runs that bakery you work at may not feel that way. and they don't want that kind of negativity brought to their business, and it is their right to tell you to fuck off.

Now, in this case, it's weird because it's someone who writes opinions for a paper, you know? Like, that's the part where you're like, well, you want me to give an opinion. I gave you an opinion. That's my job. But then again, my job is to give opinions on the radio here, and if I piss off the wrong client, they'll fire me in 10 seconds. But, you know, back to the initial point of this. And the initial point in all of this was, like, people getting worked up over NFL teams and not. recognizing or honoring Charlie Kirk.

And I don't think it's their place. Like I saw some good comments on this on our radio stations Facebook. I just asked that question, like should the team have honored this guy? And I had over a thousand comments. Nothing we post gets over a thousand comments, but this did. And there were some that I found to be good. And the ones I found to be good were guys who would say, listen, I am a right-wing person and I hated Kaepernick and I bitched about Kaepernick.

and I said, I don't want politics and sports. So how can I sit here with a straight face and be like, I need Charlie Kirk to be honored before a game, a guy who's literally only known because of politics. He ain't a politician. He's just a political opinion giver and influencer. But people who say that kind of stuff, I'm like, hey, I appreciate your ability to see the big picture.

Like, how can I go out and say that it's an outrage that Colin Kaepernick is this? And we're celebrating George Floyd here. how can I go out and in the same breath be like, Honor Charlie Kirk, damn it? I mean, it's a like, yeah. You don't really see that kind of thought going into these things, generally speaking. That's why I like that one.

But anyway, more to come.