Keith Olbermann's Response to Our Response to His Response
Keith Olbermann is a busy man. But not that busy, because he has responded not once, but twice, to our post today in which a former employee excoriates him for being an awful, terrible boss. (We applaud such multiple responses, to be clear.) Let's get you all caught up.
Keith began by writing things on Twitter. Then, he offered Response Number One:
As I pointed out on twitter, your "source" is easily proved as a fake. The "anchor producer" never sat inside the studio and would not have been visible by any camera for any bump shot - but of course we also never did any bump shots.
The turnover figure is laughably wrong. Of the top 20 staffers on Countdown when we started in 2003, 17 were still there the day I left. In fact, three of them went with me to Current, and one of them who'd left MSNBC rejoined me over here (his fourth separate stint working with and for me) - all unlikely events if any of the stuff made up by your "source" was true.
As to the overall characterization of my conduct as an employer and employee I would point out again: prior to my Current gig I've had nine full time employers. Three have rehired me later in my career (CNN, MSNBC, ESPN) and three others asked me to come back but we couldn't work it out.
I will admit the traumatic shopping story is very, very funny. But you've been seriously punked here.
Our own source replied: "Keith's reaction is par for the course - even given what I experienced and shared with Gawker, I will always remain stunned by the depths of his denial about his behavior and his lack of self-awareness. I stand by what I wrote."
And now, Keith has offered up Response Number Two:
Seeing your reply online I'll point out again there are simple black-and-white failures of the verisimilitude test. We didn't do bump shots. The producer was never in the studio. There were also no post-its and there was never any "construction" I requested nor some sort of process by which you go to HR to complain about somebody's perfume - I mean, in what office have you ever heard about that, which your "source" treats as if it were a daily event. At first I thought this person might have worked at MSNBC but not at Countdown. Rereading the piece I can see its far likelier he or she has never worked in an office of any kind. Seriously, guys, for the six years I was a local sportscaster in LA there was an LA Times columnist who kept printing these predictions of the imminence of my firing from his secret "source." Only after all that time did one of the editors find out that the "source" was a sportscaster on a rival station who had a screw loose and an obsessive fear that I would eat into his ratings. You have a funny and occasionally informative site - don't become a travesty.
Bolding ours.
[Photo: Getty]