A day after The Daily Beast reported MSNBC almost brought back ex-host Keith Olbermann to replace Rachel Maddow, Olbermann has weighed in, filling in more details — from his perspective — about the matter, including his reported conflict with Rachel Maddow.
Olbermann admitted that he may have caused the conflict with Maddow through his actions in 2011. He also specifically accused ex-NBC News boss Andy Lack of plotting to fire Lawrence O’Donnell and give O’Donnell’s show to Olbermann nearly a year before that whole thing became public drama.
You can also read the Daily Beast’s story hereBut the conclusion: According to their reporting MSNBC wanted Olbermann to return to host a show at the current time slot. “The Rachel Maddow Show.”According to DB Maddow, who is reportedly moving to a new role within the network in the latter part of this year, vetoed a potential Olbermann contract.
On Thursday, Olbermann made a cup of tea and started a Twitter thread to address the details. He confirmed. “yes there were talks,”And “yes they were serious,”NBC stated that “lied through its teeth denying them,”It was NBC who blamed Maddow’s failure for everything.
Olbermann added another twist to his story: He claims that MSNBC first approached Olbermann to ask him to return to MSNBC in September. 20118 months after he ran to take his show. “Countdown,”You can now switch to the defunct Current TV.
MSNBC didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from . Olbermann, however, linked to both The Daily Beast as well as a separate account by Puck News in the thread. He stated that the Puck story gave some credence to the idea that NBC was being fabricated. “gaslighting”He was able to assist him in these negotiations. This led him to provide more specific descriptions of his conflict against Maddow.
Olbermann explained that there is only one way to do it. “Rachel Maddow’s ‘ill will’ towards me”Her production company could own a part of any show he made for MSNBC. “and have her be its Executive Producer, even in absentia.”Olbermann stated that these talks were held in October 2021.
Olbermann says that Phil Griffin, former boss of MSNBC, is now the ex-CEO “reported back – to NBC – that Rachel did not approve. The end.”Olbermann said that Griffin opposed Maddow’s return to MSNBC for her first appearance as a contributor. “Countdown”2008
“Incidentally I probably started the disharmony [with Maddow] with some dumb strategic moves when I took ‘Countdown’ to Current TV. But I never did anything like this s—,”Olbermann was also mentioned.
Olbermann then went on to describe what he believed was an attempt by Andy to bring him back onto the network in 2016. This included some rather shady behavior. Lack wanted Olbermann on a 10 PM show. “with a conservative cohost and no commentaries.”
Olbermann said he turned down this offer, not only because he couldn’t get a serious commitment from MSNBC. “I was also more than a little worried that Lack had chosen a name for the show: ‘THE LAST WORD WITH KEITH OLBERMANN AND KRISTEN SOLTIS ANDERSON,’”Olbermann said that Anderson wasn’t aware of any of it.
Olbermann continued: “I said ‘you HAVE a show called ‘Last Word.’ Lack replied ‘not for long.’”
This statement is particularly intriguing because of the events that occurred over the next year. In May 2017, it became public that Lack wanted to fire Lawrence O’Donnell, whose show, which airs right after Maddow’s, is called “The Last Word.”
According to credible reports at the time, the network refused to negotiate with O’Donnell and intended to boot him when his contract expired. This was apparently part of a plan by Lack to steer MSNBC’s liberal primetime programming in a more conservative direction — despite the huge ratings that MSNBC’s liberal lineup was getting.
Those ratings eventually saved O’Donnell’s show; he renewed his contract with MSNBC 2 weeks after that whole thing spilled out into the open. Coincidentally, three months after that situation was resolved, an NBC producer leaked embarrassing footage of O’Donnell losing his cool over on-set noise in between segments; O’Donnell apologized for that outburst.
After Ronan Farrow reported on NBC News cancelling Harvey Weinstein’s groundbreaking expose, Lack was forced to leave NBC News and take the story elsewhere.
In his thread on Thursday, Olbermann stated that negotiations reported by The Daily Beast started in 2019 and lasted for two-and-a half years. Olbermann also denied a NY Post report that he’d attempted to get MSNBC host Chris Hayes fired, and claimed that he once threatened to quit, on-air, when he found out Rachel Maddow wasn’t being compensated for her appearances on MSNBC.
Olbermann stated that once the last negotiations ended, “I wrote a note to Rachel, a full apology for the divisions that have seen us not speak since 2011. It was hand-delivered and she confirmed she got and read it. She never replied.”
See the whole thread below.