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Keith Theodore Olbermann (; born January 27, 1959) is an American sports and political commentator and writer. Olbermann spent the first 20 years of his career in sports journalism. He was a sports correspondent for CNN and for local TV and radio stations in the 1980s, winning the ''Best Sportscaster'' award from the California Associated Press three times. He co-hosted ESPN's ''
SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is a daily sports news television show, television program that serves as the flagship program and brand of United States, American cable television, cable and satellite television television network, network ESPN. The show ...
'' from 1992 to 1997. From 1998 to 2001 he was a producer and anchor for Fox Sports Net and a host for Fox Sports' coverage of Major League Baseball. From March 2003 to January 2011 Olbermann hosted the weeknight political commentary program ''
Countdown with Keith Olbermann ''Countdown with Keith Olbermann'' is an hour-long weeknight news and political commentary program hosted by Keith Olbermann that aired on MSNBC from 2003 to 2011 and on Current TV from 2011 to 2012. The show presented five selected news stories o ...
'' on MSNBC. He received attention for his pointed criticism of right-wing and conservative politicians and public figures. Although he has frequently been described as a " liberal," he has tried to resist being labelled politically, stating, "I'm not a liberal. I'm an American." From 2011 to March 30, 2012, he was the chief news officer of the Current TV network and the host of a Current TV program also called ''Countdown with Keith Olbermann''. From July 2013 until July 2015 he hosted a late-afternoon show on ESPN2 and TSN2 called '' Olbermann'' as well as TBS's Major League Baseball postseason coverage. From September 2016 until November 2017, Olbermann hosted a web series for '' GQ'', titled ''The Closer with Keith Olbermann'', covering the
2016 U.S. presidential election The 2016 United States presidential election was the 58th quadrennial United States presidential election, presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. The Republican Party (United States), Republican ticket of businessman Donald ...
, later renamed '' The Resistance with Keith Olbermann'' after the victory of Donald Trump. In January 2018, Olbermann returned to ESPN's ''SportsCenter'' program, expanding in May to some baseball play-by-play work. On October 6, 2020, he again resigned from ESPN to start a political commentary program on his YouTube channel. On August 1, 2022, Olbermann relaunched ''Countdown with Keith Olbermann'' as a daily podcast with
iHeartRadio iHeartRadio (often shortened to just "iHeart") is an American freemium broadcast, podcast and radio streaming Computing platform, platform owned by iHeartMedia. It was founded in August 2008. , iHeartRadio was functioning as the national umbr ...
. It is described as a news-driven show featuring his trademark “Special Comment” political analysis, “The Worst Persons in the World” segment, and readings from the works of the humorist James Thurber.


Early life

Olbermann was born January 27, 1959, in New York City, the son of Marie Katherine (née Charbonier), a preschool teacher, and Theodore Olbermann, a commercial architect. He is of
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ancestry. Olbermann and his younger sister Jenna (b. 1968), were raised in a Unitarian household in the town of
Hastings-on-Hudson Hastings-on-Hudson is a village in Westchester County located in the southwestern part of the town of Greenburgh in the state of New York, United States. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, approximately north of midtown Manha ...
in Westchester, New York. He attended the Hackley School, a private Ivy League Preparatory school in nearby Tarrytown. Olbermann became a devoted fan of baseball at a young age, a love he inherited from his mother, who was a lifelong New York Yankees fan. As a teenager he often wrote about baseball card-collecting and appeared in many sports card-collecting periodicals of the mid-1970s. He is also referenced in ''Sports Collectors Bible'', a 1979 book by Bert Sugar, which is considered one of the important early books for
trading card A trading card (or collectible card) is a small card, usually made out of paperboard or thick paper, which usually contains an image of a certain person, place or thing (fictional or real) and a short description of the picture, along with other ...
collectors. While at Hackley, Olbermann began his broadcasting career as a play-by-play announcer for WHTR. After graduating from Hackley in 1975, he enrolled at Cornell University at the age of 16. At college Olbermann served as sports director for WVBR, a student-run commercial radio station in Ithaca. Olbermann graduated from Cornell University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in 1979 with a BS in communication.


Sports broadcasting

Olbermann began his professional career at UPI and the RKO Radio Network before joining then-nascent CNN in 1981. Among the early stories he covered was the
1980 Winter Olympics The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially the XIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Lake Placid 1980, were an international multi-sport event held from February 13 to 24, 1980, in Lake Placid, New York, United States. Lake Placid was elected ...
at Lake Placid, including the "
Miracle on Ice The "Miracle on Ice" was an ice hockey game during the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. It was played between the hosting United States and the Soviet Union on February 22, 1980, during the medal round of the men's hockey tourna ...
." In the early-to-mid 1980s he was a sportscaster on the old WNEW 1130-AM radio station in New York City. In 1984, he briefly worked as a sports anchor at WCVB-TV in Boston before heading to Los Angeles to work at
KTLA KTLA (channel 5) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of The CW. It is the largest directly owned property of the network's majority owner, Nexstar Media Group, and is the seco ...
and KCBS. His work there earned him 11 Golden Mike Awards and he was named best sportscaster by the California Associated Press three times.


ESPN

In 1992 Olbermann joined ESPN's ''
SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is a daily sports news television show, television program that serves as the flagship program and brand of United States, American cable television, cable and satellite television television network, network ESPN. The show ...
'', a position he held until 1997 with the exception of a period from 1993 to 1994 when he was at ESPN2. He joined ESPN2 as its "marquee" personality to help launch the network. He often co-hosted ''SportsCenter''s 11:00 p.m. show with
Dan Patrick Dan Patrick may refer to: * Dan Patrick (ice hockey) (born 1938), Canadian ice hockey player * Dan Patrick (politician) (born 1950), Lieutenant Governor of Texas and political and sports radio journalist * Dan Patrick (sportscaster) (born 1956), Ame ...
, the two becoming a popular anchor team. In 1995 Olbermann won a Cable ACE award for Best Sportscaster. he later co-authored a book with Patrick called ''The Big Show'' about their experiences working at ''SportsCenter''; he also said that the short-lived
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
dramedy '' Sports Night'' was based on his time on ''SportsCenter'' with Patrick,
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
having been co-owned with ESPN since 1985 (ESPN now produces all sports coverage on ABC, which is branded '' ESPN on ABC''). In his last year with KCBS before moving east to work for ESPN, Olbermann's salary was $475,000 but started at "just over $150,000" with ESPN. He made $350,000 at the end of his tenure at ESPN. Early in 1997 Olbermann was suspended for two weeks after he made an unauthorized appearance on '' The Daily Show'' on Comedy Central with then-host and former ESPN colleague Craig Kilborn. At one point in the show he referred to Bristol, Connecticut (ESPN's headquarters), as a "Godforsaken place". Later that year he abruptly left ESPN under a cloud of controversy, apparently burning his bridges with the network's management; this began a long and drawn-out feud between Olbermann and ESPN. Between 1997 and 2007 incidents between the two sides included Olbermann's publishing an essay on ''
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'' in November 2002 titled "Mea Culpa", in which he stated, "I couldn't handle the pressure of working in daily long-form television, and what was worse, I didn't know I couldn't handle it." The essay told of an instance when his former bosses remarked he had "too much backbone", a claim that is literally true, as Olbermann has six lumbar vertebrae instead of the normal five. In 2004, Olbermann was not included in ESPN's guest lineup for its 25th anniversary ''
SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is a daily sports news television show, television program that serves as the flagship program and brand of United States, American cable television, cable and satellite television television network, network ESPN. The show ...
'' "Reunion Week", which saw Craig Kilborn and Charley Steiner return to the ''SportsCenter'' set. In 2007, ten years after Olbermann's departure, in an appearance on the ''
Late Show with David Letterman The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the The Late Show (franchise), ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by ...
'', he said, "If you burn a bridge, you can possibly build a new bridge, but if there's no river any more, that's a lot of trouble." During the same interview Olbermann stated that he had recently learned that as a result of ESPN's agreeing to let him return to the airwaves on ESPN Radio, he was banned from ESPN's main ( Bristol, Connecticut) campus.


Post-''SportsCenter''

In 1999, Olbermann joined Fox Sports Net to be the star anchor for their sports news show '' Fox Sports News Primetime'', which was an ill-fated competitor to ''SportsCenter''. Olbermann later left that show to be an anchor and executive producer for ''The Keith Olbermann Evening News'', a sportscast similar to ''SportsCenter'' that aired weekly on Sunday evenings. While at Fox he hosted the
2000 World Series The 2000 World Series was the World Series, championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2000 Major League Baseball season, 2000 season. The 96th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between crosstown opponents, th ...
as well as Fox Broadcasting's baseball '' Game of the Week''. In May and July 1999, Olbermann also guest-starred ten times on '' Hollywood Squares''. According to Olbermann, he was demoted by Fox when he asked for a slight reduction in duties for health reasons, and then was fired from Fox in 2001 after reporting on rumors that Rupert Murdoch, whose News Corporation owns Fox, was planning on selling the Los Angeles Dodgers. Olbermann characterized the demotion as "blackmail." When asked about Olbermann, Murdoch said, "I fired him ... He's crazy." In 2004 Olbermann remarked, "Fox Sports was an infant trying to stand n comparison to ESPN but on the broadcast side there was no comparison—ESPN was the bush leagues." After Olbermann left Fox Sports in 2001 he provided twice-daily sports commentary on the ABC Radio Network, reviving the "Speaking of Sports" and "Speaking of Everything" segments begun by Howard Cosell. In 2005 Olbermann made a return to ESPN Radio when he began co-hosting an hour of the syndicated ''
Dan Patrick Show ''The Dan Patrick Show'' is a syndicated radio and television sports talk show, hosted by former ESPN personality Dan Patrick. It is currently produced by Patrick and is syndicated to radio stations by Premiere Radio Networks, within and indepen ...
'' on
ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternately platform-agnostically branded as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN". ...
, a tenure that lasted until Patrick left ESPN on August 17, 2007. Olbermann and Patrick referred to this segment as "The Big Show", just as their book was known. Patrick often introduced Olbermann with the tagline "saving the democracy", a nod to his work on ''Countdown''. On April 16, 2007, Olbermann was named co-host of '' Football Night in America'', NBC's NFL pre-game show that precedes their Sunday Night NFL game, a position which reunited him in 2008 with his former ''
SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is a daily sports news television show, television program that serves as the flagship program and brand of United States, American cable television, cable and satellite television television network, network ESPN. The show ...
'' co-anchor
Dan Patrick Dan Patrick may refer to: * Dan Patrick (ice hockey) (born 1938), Canadian ice hockey player * Dan Patrick (politician) (born 1950), Lieutenant Governor of Texas and political and sports radio journalist * Dan Patrick (sportscaster) (born 1956), Ame ...
. Olbermann left the show prior to the start of the 2010 season. Shortly before rejoining ESPN, Olbermann signed a contract with TBS to host the studio show portions of its coverage of the Division Series and National League Championship Series. He replaced Matt Winer, who had been in this role since his departure from ESPN to join the Turner Sports family, and was originally supposed to host the show with TBS' Dennis Eckersley. Instead, Eckersley was sent to join Don Orsillo and Buck Martinez to call the Detroit-Oakland series. TBS later hired
Dirk Hayhurst Dirk Von Hayhurst (born March 24, 1981) is an American author and broadcaster, and formerly a professional baseball pitcher. Hayhurst played in Major League Baseball for the San Diego Padres in 2008 and for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2009. Followi ...
, Pedro Martínez, and Mark DeRosa to provide analysis. Tom Verducci also joined the studio crew, as he was replaced by Rachel Nichols as a field reporter.


Return to and departure from ESPN

It was announced on July 17, 2013, that Olbermann would host his own one-hour nightly show on ESPN2. The two-year contract would allow him to deviate from the topic of sports into realms such as "pop culture and current events," as well as politics (a right Olbermann claimed he didn't intend to exercise). Olbermann was suspended by ESPN in 2015 for the week following Penn State University's annual philanthropy THON due to a Twitter exchange he had with Penn State supporters. THON is the world's largest student-run philanthropy, raising over $160 million for pediatric cancer research since 1977. In the Twitter exchange, Olbermann stated, "PSU students are pitiful." Later, prior to apologizing, Olbermann stated, "I'd like to thank the students and alums of Penn State for proving my point about the mediocrity of their education and ethics." Olbermann apologized on his program upon his return March 2, but noted, "I'm much more sorry about batting practice .e. trolling or cyber bullying So for me, batting practice ends." In July 2015 ESPN announced that it would be Olbermann's last month with the network. ESPN said that it was a "business decision to move in another direction".


The Ringer

In 2016, Olbermann wrote an article for
Bill Simmons William John Simmons III (born September 25, 1969) is an American sports analyst, author, podcaster, and former sports writer who is the founder and CEO of the sports and pop culture website '' The Ringer''. Simmons first gained attention with ...
' company " The Ringer" after
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's death.


Third tenure with ESPN

In January 2018, Olbermann returned to ESPN once again, presenting occasional commentaries on ''
SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is a daily sports news television show, television program that serves as the flagship program and brand of United States, American cable television, cable and satellite television television network, network ESPN. The show ...
'' throughout the first half of 2018. In May 2018, Olbermann's role at ESPN expanded to include a return to the role of ''
SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is a daily sports news television show, television program that serves as the flagship program and brand of United States, American cable television, cable and satellite television television network, network ESPN. The show ...
'' host and the addition of occasional ESPN Major League Baseball play-by-play.


News journalism

In 1997, Olbermann left ESPN to host a prime-time show on MSNBC, ''The Big Show with Keith Olbermann'' (ESPN objected to the use of the title). The news-driven program, with substantial discussion, relied on Olbermann to carry the 8:00–9:00 PM hour. The show typically covered three or four topics in a one-hour broadcast. Olbermann also hosted two Sunday editions of '' NBC Nightly News'' and once co-anchored a Saturday edition of the '' Today'' show. During that period Olbermann, along with
Hannah Storm Hannah Lynn Storen Hicks (born June 13, 1962), known professionally as Hannah Storm, is an American television sports journalist, serving as the anchor of ESPN's ''SportsCenter'' Face to Face. She was also host of the ''NBA Countdown'' pregame s ...
, also co-hosted
NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division of the broadcast network NBC, owned and operated by NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and subsidiary of Comcast. The division is responsible for sports broadcasts on the network, and its d ...
' pre-game coverage of the MLB
1997 World Series The 1997 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1997 season. The 93rd edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League (AL) champion Cleveland Indians and the National L ...
. Olbermann became frustrated as his show was consumed by the
Monica Lewinsky scandal Monica may refer to: People *Monica (actress) (born 1987), Indian film actress *Monica (given name), a given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Monica (singer) (born 1980), American R&B singer, songwriter, producer, ...
. In 1998, he stated that his work at MSNBC would "make me ashamed, make me depressed, make me cry." Olbermann left MSNBC for Fox Sports Net shortly thereafter. After leaving Fox Sports in 2001, Olbermann returned once more to news journalism. In 2003, his network won an Edward R. Murrow Award for writing on the "Keith Olbermann Speaking of Everything" show. In addition, Olbermann wrote a weekly column for Salon.com from July 2002 until early 2003, worked for CNN as a freelance reporter, and was a fill-in for newscaster Paul Harvey. Olbermann revived his association with MSNBC in 2003 briefly as a substitute host on '' Nachman'' and as an anchor for the network's coverage of the war in Iraq.


''Countdown with Keith Olbermann''

Olbermann's own show, ''Countdown'', debuted on MSNBC on March 31, 2003, in the 8 p.m. ET time slot previously held by programs hosted by
Phil Donahue Phillip John Donahue (born December 21, 1935) is an American media personality, writer, film producer and the creator and host of ''The Phil Donahue Show''. The television program, later known simply as ''Donahue'', was the first talk show forma ...
and, briefly, Lester Holt. ''Countdown's'' format, per its name, involved Olbermann ranking the five biggest news stories of the day or sometimes "stories my producers force me to cover", as Olbermann put it. This was done in numerically reverse order, counting down with the first story shown being ranked fifth but apparently the most important. The first few stories shown were typically oriented toward government, politics, and world events; the segments ranked numbers two and one were typically of a lighter fare than the preceding segments. These lighter stories sometimes involved celebrities, sports, and, regularly and somewhere in the middle, the bizarre, in a segment he called "Oddball." Opinions on each were offered by Olbermann and guests interviewed during the segment. Olbermann had been criticized for only having guests that agree with his perspective. Former '' Los Angeles Times'' television critic Howard Rosenberg stated that "''Countdown'' is more or less an echo chamber in which Olbermann and like-minded bobbleheads nod at each other." On October 13, 2004, Olbermann launched
Bloggermann
', his ''Countdown'' blog, hosted on MSNBC's website. Olbermann used the open format of the blog to expand on facts or ideas alluded to in the broadcast, to offer personal musings and reactions. However, in February 2007, Olbermann launched a new blog,
The News Hole
'. In a technique similar to that of former
CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 48 H ...
anchor Walter Cronkite in connection to the Iran Hostage Crisis, for the last six years of the program, Olbermann closed every show by announcing the number of days passed since President
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
had declared the end of "major combat operations" in Iraq under a banner that read " Mission Accomplished" (May 1, 2003). Olbermann would then crumple up his notes, throwing them at the camera and saying "Good night and good luck", echoing another former CBS newsman, Edward R. Murrow. (Yet Olbermann himself discounted this gesture to his hero as "presumptuous" and a "feeble tribute.") On February 16, 2007, MSNBC reported that Olbermann had signed a four-year extension on his contract with MSNBC for ''Countdown'' which also provided for his hosting of two ''Countdown'' specials a year to be aired on NBC as well as for his occasional contribution of essays on ''NBC's Nightly News with Brian Williams''. Olbermann co-anchored, with
Chris Matthews Christopher John Matthews (born December 17, 1945) is an American political commentator, retired talk show host, and author. Matthews hosted his weeknight hour-long talk show, ''Hardball with Chris Matthews'', on America's Talking and later on M ...
, MSNBC's coverage of the death of fellow NBC News employee Tim Russert on June 13, 2008. He presented a tribute, along with several fellow journalists, in honor of Russert. During the
2008 U.S. presidential election The 2008 United States presidential election was the 56th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 4, 2008. The Democratic ticket of Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, and Joe Biden, the senior senator from ...
, Olbermann co-anchored MSNBC's coverage with Chris Matthews until September 7, 2008, when they were replaced by David Gregory after complaints from both outside and inside of NBC that they were making partisan statements. This apparent conflict of interest had been an issue as early as May 2007, when Giuliani campaign officials complained about his serving in dual roles, as both a host and a commentator. Despite this, ''Countdown'' was broadcast both before and after each of the presidential and vice-presidential debates, and Olbermann and Matthews joined Gregory on MSNBC's Election Day coverage. Olbermann and Matthews also led MSNBC's coverage of the inauguration of President Barack Obama. In November 2008, it was announced that Olbermann had signed a four-year contract extension worth an estimated $30 million.


Feud with Bill O'Reilly

After beginning ''Countdown'''s "Worst Person in the World" segment in July 2005, Olbermann repeatedly awarded Bill O'Reilly, host of '' The O'Reilly Factor'' on
Fox News Channel The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
, the dubious honor. The feud between the anchors originated with Olbermann's extensive coverage of a 2004
sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment involving the use of explicit or implicit sexual overtones, including the unwelcome and inappropriate promises of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. Sexual harassment includes a range of actions fro ...
suit brought against O'Reilly by former Fox News Channel producer
Andrea Mackris William James O'Reilly Jr. (born September 10, 1949) is an American conservative commentator, journalist, author, and television host. O'Reilly's broadcasting career began during the late 1970s and 1980s, when he reported for local televisio ...
during which Olbermann asked ''Countdown'' viewers to fund the purchase of lurid audio tapes allegedly held by Mackris. In 2008 O'Reilly decided to avoid mentioning Olbermann's name on the air, and once cut off a caller who mentioned Olbermann. O'Reilly has also criticized MSNBC's news commentary and political coverage without ever specifically mentioning Olbermann. The rivalry continued when in 2006 at Television Critics' Association in California, Olbermann donned a mask of O'Reilly and made a Nazi salute, leading to a letter of protest from the
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. In an article on "perhaps the fiercest media feud of the decade", '' The New York Times''
Brian Stelter Brian Patrick Stelter (born September 3, 1985) is an American journalist best known as the former chief media correspondent for CNN and host of the CNN program '' Reliable Sources'', roles he held from 2013 to 2022. Stelter is also a former medi ...
noted that in early June 2009 the "combat" between the two hosts seemed to have abruptly ended as a result of instructions filtered down to Olbermann and O'Reilly from the chief executives of their respective networks. On the August 3, 2009, edition of ''Countdown'', Olbermann asserted that he had made statements to Stelter before the article was published denying that he was a party to such a deal, or that there was such a deal between NBC and Fox News, or that any NBC executive had asked him to change ''Countdowns content. Olbermann maintained that he had stopped joking about O'Reilly because of O'Reilly's attacks of George Tiller, and soon resumed his criticism of O'Reilly.


Suspension

On October 28, 2010, days before the 2010 U.S. elections, Olbermann donated $2,400 each to three Democratic candidates for Congress: Kentucky Senate candidate Jack Conway, and Arizona Democratic Representatives
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and Gabby Giffords. Grijalva had appeared on Olbermann's show immediately before Olbermann mailed the donations. In response, on November 5, MSNBC President Phil Griffin suspended him indefinitely without pay for violating a network policy which required employees to obtain approval from management before making political contributions. An online petition calling for his reinstatement received over 250,000 signatures; two days after the suspension began, Griffin announced that Olbermann would return to the air on November 9.


Departure

On January 21, 2011, Olbermann announced his departure from MSNBC and that the episode would be the final episode of ''Countdown''. MSNBC issued a statement that it had ended its contract with Olbermann, with no further explanation. Additional reporting in the days immediately following suggested that the negotiations for the end of Olbermann's tenure at MSNBC had begun soon after the end of his suspension.


Current TV and FOKNewsChannel.com

On February 8, 2011, it was announced that Olbermann had become the chief news officer for the public affairs channel Current TV and would begin hosting a one-hour prime time program on the network at 8 PM Eastern – the same time slot that ''Countdown'' had been on MSNBC. On April 26, 2011, it was announced that Olbermann's new show would debut on June 20 and would be named ''Countdown with Keith Olbermann''. Olbermann was also heavily involved in the development of the rest of the network's news programming. The deal also included an equity stake in Current TV. During the interim between shows, Olbermann launched an "official not-for-profit" blog called FOKNewsChannel.com, "FOK" being an abbreviation for "Friends of Keith". The blog featured political commentaries by Olbermann—including viral video versions of ''Countdowns "Special Comment" and "Worst Person" segments, as well as photographs of his outings at professional baseball games. On May 29, 2011, the FOKNewsChannel.com domain redirected to the Current website promoting the June 20 launch. Olbermann was fired from Current TV on March 30, 2012. In a statement from Current TV, they stated that "Current was ..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 released his own statement, apologizing for "the failure of Current TV" and "that the claims against me implied in Current's statement are untrue and will be proved so in the legal actions I will be filing against them presently." The two parties sued each other over Olbermann's firing. On March 12, 2013, it was announced that Olbermann settled his $50 million legal claim. In a joint statement, Olbermann and Current TV said: "The parties are pleased to announce that a settlement has occurred, and that the terms are confidential. Nothing more will be disclosed regarding the settlement." According to ''Politico'', Olbermann's professional reputation suffered greatly as a result of his dispute with Current, which accused Olbermann of making "material breaches of his contract, including the failure to show up at work, sabotaging the network and attacking Current and its executives." Purportedly, despite actively shopping other networks for offers, Olbermann was unable to find a outlet interested in hiring him. According to ''Politico'', the fact Olbermann had been rendered unemployable as a result of the dispute, factored heavily during settlement negotiations between his attorneys and representatives from CurrentTV.


''The Closer with Keith Olbermann/The Resistance''

On September 12, 2016, ''GQ'' magazine announced that Olbermann would, as a special correspondent, host a web series covering the
2016 US Presidential Election The 2016 United States presidential election was the 58th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. The Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana governor Mike Pence defeated the Democratic ticket ...
. The series, titled ''The Closer with Keith Olbermann'', aired twice weekly on GQ.com. It was retitled ''The Resistance'' after Donald Trump's victory. , it had nearly 170 million views on GQ's YouTube and Facebook. In mid-October 2017, Penguin Random House issued a hardcover book by Olbermann, ''Trump is F*cking Crazy (This is Not a Joke)'', consisting of 50 essays based on ''The Resistance'' commentaries. On November 27, 2017, in episode 147 of ''The Resistance'', Olbermann announced his retirement from political commentary, citing his belief that "this ... presidency of Donald John Trump will end prematurely and end soon, and I am thus also confident that this is the correct moment to end this series of commentaries".


''Countdown with Keith Olbermann'' Podcast

On August 1, 2022, Olbermann began producing and hosting a weekday podcast titled "Countdown with Keith Olbermann", for iHeart Media. It usually consists of a similar five block show from the TV days with three blocks changed out. The main, a dog in need, a headlines section, worsts persons, a sports rundown and the number one story either being a story of Olbermann's (usually his experience in the news media) or a short story from James Thurber on Fridays.


Acting

Olbermann has made several acting appearances either as himself or simply as a sports/newscaster, most notably as Tom Jumbo-Grumbo (a blue whale newscaster on the MSNBSea network) in several episodes of ''
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''.


Political positions


Viewpoints

Although it began as a traditional newscast, ''Countdown with Keith Olbermann'' eventually adopted an opinion-oriented format. In a ''Countdown'' interview with Al Franken on October 25, 2005, Olbermann noted that in 2003, after having
Janeane Garofalo Janeane Marie Garofalo ( ; born September 28, 1964) is an American comedian, actress, and former co-host on the now-defunct Air America Radio's ''The Majority Report''. Garofalo began her career as a stand-up comedian and became a cast member on ...
and Franken on his show, a vice president of MSNBC had questioned him on inviting "liberals" on consecutive nights, contrasting that occurrence to the apparent ideological latitude he enjoyed at the time of the second Franken interview. In January 2007, '' The Washington Posts Howard Kurtz wrote that Olbermann was "position nghis program as an increasingly liberal alternative to '' The O'Reilly Factor''." Much of the program featured harsh criticism of prominent
Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
and right-leaning figures, including those who worked for or supported the George W. Bush Administration, 2008 Republican presidential nominee Senator
John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...
and running mate Governor
Sarah Palin Sarah Louise Palin (; Heath; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician, commentator, author, and reality television personality who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She was the 2008 R ...
, and rival news commentator Bill O'Reilly, whom Olbermann has routinely dubbed the "Worst Person in the World". The October 2007 edition of ''Playboy'' carried an Olbermann interview in which he stated, "Al Qaeda really hurt us, but not as much as Rupert Murdoch has hurt us, particularly in the case of Fox News. Fox News is worse than Al Qaeda — worse for our society. It's as dangerous as the Ku Klux Klan ever was." In November 2007, British newspaper '' The Daily Telegraph'' placed Olbermann at No. 67 on their Top 100 list of most influential US liberals. It said that he used his MSNBC show to promote "an increasingly strident liberal agenda." It added that he would be "a force on the
Left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relative direction opposite of right * L ...
for some time to come." Avoiding ideological self-labeling, Olbermann described his reporting in 2006 to Salon.com, "I don't think in these issues that I'm a liberal; I think that I'm an American. I think I'm acting almost as a historian on these particular things". During the 2008 Democratic Party primaries, Olbermann frequently chastised presidential aspirant Hillary Clinton for her campaign tactics against her principal opponent, Senator Barack Obama, and made her the subject of two of his "special comments". Olbermann has also posted on the liberal blog Daily Kos. Before the 2010 Massachusetts special election, Olbermann called Republican candidate
Scott Brown Scott Brown may refer to: Sportsmen *Scott Brown (American football), American college football coach of Kentucky State * Scott Brown (baseball) (born 1956), former Major League Baseball pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds *Scott Brown (footballer, bor ...
"an irresponsible, homophobic, racist, reactionary, ex-nude model, Tea Bagging supporter of violence against women, and against politicians with whom he disagrees". This was criticized by his colleague Joe Scarborough, who called the comments "reckless" and "sad". Yael T. Abouhalkah of the ''
Kansas City Star ''The Kansas City Star'' is a newspaper based in Kansas City, Missouri. Published since 1880, the paper is the recipient of eight Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Star'' is most notable for its influence on the career of President Harry S. Truman and as ...
'' said that Olbermann "crossed the line in a major way with his comments". The next night, Olbermann chose to "double down", as '' The Huffington Posts Danny Shea described it, on his criticism of Brown by adding the word "sexist" to his original description of the Republican candidate.
Jon Stewart Jon Stewart (born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz; November 28, 1962) is an American comedian, political commentator, and television host. He hosted ''The Daily Show'', a satirical news program on Comedy Central, from 1999 to 2015 and now hosts ''Th ...
criticized Olbermann about this attack on his show, ''The Daily Show'', by noting that it was "the harshest description of anyone I've ever heard uttered on MSNBC". Following Stewart's critique, Olbermann apologized by noting, "I have been a little over the top lately. Point taken. Sorry." He has accused the Tea Party movement of being racist due to what he views as a lack of racial diversity at the events, using photos that show overwhelmingly Caucasian crowds attending the rallies. In response, the Dallas Tea Party invited Olbermann to attend one of their events and also criticized his network for a lack of racial diversity, pointing out that an online banner of MSNBC personalities that appears on the website shows only white personalities. Olbermann declined the invitation, citing his father's prolonged ill health and hospitalization and stated that the network has minority anchors, contributors and guests. In October 2020, Olbermann called for supporters and "enablers" of Donald Trump, including United States Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett and conservative political commentator Sean Hannity, to be "prosecuted" and "removed from our society". Additionally Olbermann labeled Trump a "terrorist" and called his supporters "a blight that will be with us for generations," further stating that Trump's "only barely-human delight comes from the morons in the crowd."


Criticism of the Bush administration

In Olbermann's " Special Comment" segment on July 3, 2007, he called President
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
's
commutation Commute, commutation or commutative may refer to: * Commuting, the process of travelling between a place of residence and a place of work Mathematics * Commutative property, a property of a mathematical operation whose result is insensitive to th ...
of Lewis "Scooter" Libby's prison sentence the " last straw" and called for the resignation of Bush and Vice President
Dick Cheney Richard Bruce Cheney ( ; born January 30, 1941) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He is currently the oldest living former U ...
. On his February 14, 2008, "Special Comments" segment, Olbermann castigated Bush for threatening to veto an extension of the
Protect America Act The Protect America Act of 2007 (PAA), (, enacted by ), is a controversial amendment to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) that was signed into law by U.S. President George W. Bush on August 5, 2007. It removed the warrant requir ...
unless it provided full
immunity Immunity may refer to: Medicine * Immunity (medical), resistance of an organism to infection or disease * ''Immunity'' (journal), a scientific journal published by Cell Press Biology * Immune system Engineering * Radiofrequence immunity desc ...
from lawsuits to telecom companies. During the same commentary, Olbermann called Bush a fascist. In a special comment on May 14, 2008, Olbermann criticized Bush for announcing that he had stopped playing golf in honor of American soldiers who died in the Iraq War. He stated that Bush never should have started the war in the first place, and he accused Bush of dishonesty and war crimes.


Personal life

Olbermann suffers from a mild case of celiac disease, as well as restless legs syndrome. In August 1980, he also suffered a head injury while leaping onto a
New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October 2 ...
train. This head injury permanently upset his equilibrium, resulting in his avoidance of driving. Along with Bob Costas, he supports the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation as an honorary board member. Olbermann's father, Theodore, died on March 13, 2010, of complications from colon surgery the previous September. His mother had died several months before. Olbermann had cited the need to spend time with his father for taking a leave of absence shortly before his father's death, occasionally recording segments to air at the beginning of the shows which Lawrence O'Donnell guest hosted in his absence, giving his views on the state of the American
health care system Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, Mental health, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World H ...
and updating viewers on his father's condition. Olbermann is a dedicated baseball fan and historian of the sport, with membership in the Society for American Baseball Research. In 1973, when he was 14 years old, The Card Memorabilia Associates (TCMA) published his book ''The Major League Coaches: 1921–1973''. The September issue of Beckett Sports Collectibles Vintage included a T206 card that depicted Olbermann in a 1905-era New York Giants uniform. He argues that
New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
baseball player Fred Merkle has been unduly criticized for his infamous baserunning mistake. He contributed the foreword to ''More Than Merkle'', a book requesting amnesty for " Merkle's Boner". Olbermann was also one of the founders of the first experts'
fantasy baseball Fantasy baseball is a game in which the participants serve as owners and general managers of virtual baseball teams. The competitors select their rosters by participating in a draft in which all relevant Major League Baseball (MLB) players are ava ...
league, the '' USA Today Baseball Weekly'' League of Alternative Baseball Reality, and he gave the league its nickname "LABR". Olbermann wrote the foreword to the 2009
Baseball Prospectus Baseball Prospectus (BP) is an organization that publishes a website, BaseballProspectus.com, devoted to the sabermetric analysis of baseball. BP has a staff of regular columnists and provides advanced statistics as well as player and team perf ...
Annual. In March 2009, Olbermann began a baseball-related blog entitled Baseball Nerd. He has also written a series of articles on baseball cards for the ''Sports Collectors Digest''. In December 2022, related to Elon Musk Jet Tracking by
Jack Sweeney Jack Sweeney (born ) is an American programmer and entrepreneur. In 2022, he became known for creating Twitter bots to track the private jets of Russian oligarchs and other prominent individuals, including Elon Musk, through the ElonJet account. ...
, his Twitter account has been suspended, as part of the December 15, 2022 Twitter suspensions.


Career timeline

* ''
SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is a daily sports news television show, television program that serves as the flagship program and brand of United States, American cable television, cable and satellite television television network, network ESPN. The show ...
'', co-anchor (1992–1997) * ''The Big Show'', anchor (1997–1998) * ''White House in Crisis'', anchor (1997–1998) * '' Major League Baseball on Fox'', studio host (1999–2000) * '' National Sports Report'', co-anchor (1999–2000) * ''The Keith Olbermann Evening News'', anchor (2000–2001) * ''
Countdown with Keith Olbermann ''Countdown with Keith Olbermann'' is an hour-long weeknight news and political commentary program hosted by Keith Olbermann that aired on MSNBC from 2003 to 2011 and on Current TV from 2011 to 2012. The show presented five selected news stories o ...
'', anchor ( MSNBC: 2003–2011) * '' Football Night in America'', co-host (2007–2010) * ''
Countdown with Keith Olbermann ''Countdown with Keith Olbermann'' is an hour-long weeknight news and political commentary program hosted by Keith Olbermann that aired on MSNBC from 2003 to 2011 and on Current TV from 2011 to 2012. The show presented five selected news stories o ...
'', anchor ( Current TV: 2011–2012) * '' Olbermann'', host (2013–2015) * '' GQ''s '' The Resistance with Keith Olbermann'', host (Nov. 16, 2016–Nov. 27, 2017) * ''
Countdown with Keith Olbermann ''Countdown with Keith Olbermann'' is an hour-long weeknight news and political commentary program hosted by Keith Olbermann that aired on MSNBC from 2003 to 2011 and on Current TV from 2011 to 2012. The show presented five selected news stories o ...
'', Host (
iHeart Radio iHeartRadio (often shortened to just "iHeart") is an American freemium broadcast, podcast and radio streaming platform owned by iHeartMedia. It was founded in August 2008. , iHeartRadio was functioning as the national umbrella brand for iHear ...
): (August 1 2022 - Present)


Publications

* ''The Major League Coaches: 1921–1973'' (Card Memorabilia Associates, 1973). * ''The Big Show: Inside ESPN's Sportscenter'' (Atria, 1997) (coauthor: Dan Patrick). . * ''The Worst Person in the World and 202 Strong Contenders'' (Wiley, September 2006). . * ''Truth and Consequences: Special Comments on the Bush Administration's War on American Values'' (Random House, December 2007). . * ''Pitchforks and Torches: The Worst of the Worst, from Beck, Bill, and Bush to Palin and Other Posturing Republicans'' (Wiley, October 25, 2010). . * ''Trump Is F*cking Crazy: (This Is Not a Joke)'' (Blue Rider Press, October 17, 2017) .


See also

* New Yorkers in journalism


Explanatory notes


References


External links


Olbermann YouTube channel
*
Keith Olbermann's blog
on The Daily Kos
Olbermann and texting relationship with BBC
journalist Ross Atkins">BBC">Olbermann and texting relationship with BBC
journalist Ross Atkins over several years]
Baseball Nerd
Olbermann's Major League Baseball blog
Biography
at '' TV Guide'' * *
C-SPAN ''Q&A'' interview with Olbermann, March 12, 2006
* *
''Texting Keith Olbermann''
A BBC radio series on BBC News anchor Ros Atkins' friendship with Olbermann {{DEFAULTSORT:Olbermann, Keith 1959 births 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American broadcast news analysts American male journalists American male non-fiction writers American people of German descent American people of Russian descent American political commentators American television talk show hosts American Unitarians American YouTubers Baseball statisticians Commentary YouTubers Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences alumni Current TV people ESPN people Hackley School alumni Living people Major League Baseball broadcasters American male YouTubers MSNBC people National Football League announcers NBC News people New York (state) Democrats News YouTubers People from Hastings-on-Hudson, New York Progressivism in the United States Television anchors from Boston Television personalities from New York City Writers from New York City