Keith Olbermann Reacts to Firing, Being Replaced By Eliot Spitzer
Keith Olbermann has been fired by Current TV and he will be replaced by former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer. Olbermann hosted “Countdown” which is his show he brought to Current TV from MSNBC when he left there. He has only been at the new network since June. As is typical with Olbermann he left the job with huge resentments on both sides of the desk.
Spitzer, who resigned as Governor of New York after being caught having used the services of several extremely expensive call girls has been hosting a show Friday nights on CNN. He has not made any comment on Olbermann’s firing.
A source told Politico that Olbermann was fired for breach of contract, saying that he had “sabotaged” the network. Howard Kurtz reported that Olbermann had begun refusing to toss to other peoples’ shows or appear in advertisements with them.
Al Gore and Joel Hyatt, the founders of Current TV released a statement on the firing, saying,
“We created Current to give voice to those Americans who refuse to rely on corporate-controlled media and are seeking an authentic progressive outlet. We are more committed to those goals today than ever before. Current was also founded on the values of respect, openness, collegiality, and loyalty to our viewers. Unfortunately these values are no longer reflected in our relationship with Keith Olbermann and we have ended it.”
Olbermann also released a statement over several tweets saying,
“I’d like to apologize to my viewers and my staff for the failure of Current TV. Editorially, Countdown had never been better. But for more than a year I have been imploring Al Gore and Joel Hyatt to resolve our issues internally, while I’ve been not publicizing my complaints, and keeping the show alive for the sake of its loyal viewers and even more loyal staff. Nevertheless, Mr. Gore and Mr. Hyatt, instead of abiding by their promises and obligations and investing in a quality news program, finally thought it was more economical to try to get out of my contract. It goes almost without saying that the claims against me in Current’s statement are untrue and will be proved so in the legal actions I will be filing against them presently. To understand Mr. Hyatt’s “values of respect, openness, collegiality and loyalty,” I encourage you to read of a previous occasion Mr. Hyatt found himself in court for having unjustly fired an employee. That employee’s name was Clarence B. Cain. In due course, the truth of the ethics of Mr. Gore and Mr. Hyatt will come out. For now, it is important only to again acknowledge that joining them was a sincere and well-intentioned gesture on my part, but in retrospect a foolish one. That lack of judgment is mine and mine alone, and I apologize again for it.”
Olbermann’s lawyer indicated that they would be filing suit against the network. Olbermann is booked this week on Letterman to tell his side of the story.
As one executive said rather presciently during the height of Olbermann’s conflicts with the network, “Everybody is replaceable.”
Being replaced by a man whose best known for sleeping with prostitutes? Keith Olbermann has some work to do to mend his career.
