Keith Olbermann | |
|---|---|
 Olbermann in 2008 | |
| Born | Keith Theodore Olbermann[1] (1959-01-27)January 27, 1959 (age 66) New York City, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Cornell University (B.S.) |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1980s–present |
| Television |
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| Political party | Democratic |
| Awards | ThreeEdward R. Murrow Awards[2] |
YouTube information | |
| Channel | |
| Subscribers | 194 thousand[3] |
| Views | 30.4 million[3] |
Last updated: June 14, 2024 | |
| Website | twitter |
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 insports journalism. He was a sports correspondent forCNN and for local TV and radio stations in the 1980s, winning theBest Sportscaster award from the CaliforniaAssociated Press three times. He co-hostedESPN'sSportsCenter from 1992 to 1997. From 1998 to 2001, he was a producer and anchor forFox Sports Net and a host forFox Sports' coverage of Major League Baseball.
From March 2003 to January 2011, Olbermann hosted the weeknight political commentary programCountdown with Keith Olbermann onMSNBC. He received attention for his pointed criticism ofAmerican conservative and right-wing politicians and public figures.[4][5][6][7][8] Although he has frequently been described as a "liberal",[9] he has often rejected being labelled politically, stating, "I'm not a liberal. I'm an American."[10]
From 2011 to March 30, 2012, Olbermann was the chief news officer of theCurrent TV network and the host of a Current TV program also calledCountdown with Keith Olbermann.[11][12] From July 2013 until July 2015 he hosted a late-afternoon show onESPN2 andTSN2 calledOlbermann,[13] as well asTBS'sMajor League Baseball postseason coverage. From September 2016 until November 2017, he hosted a web series forGQ, titledThe Closer with Keith Olbermann, covering the2016 U.S. presidential election, later renamedThe Resistance with Keith Olbermann after the victory ofDonald Trump.[14]
In January 2018, Olbermann returned to ESPN'sSportsCenter 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.[15][16] On August 1, 2022, Olbermann relaunchedCountdown with Keith Olbermann as a daily podcast withiHeartRadio.[17] 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 humoristJames Thurber.
Olbermann was born January 27, 1959, in New York City,[1][18] the son of Marie Katherine (née Charbonier),[19] a preschool teacher, and Theodore Olbermann, a commercial architect.[7] He is ofGerman ancestry.[20] Olbermann and his younger sister Jenna (b. 1968),[21] were raised in aUnitarian household[22] in the town ofHastings-on-Hudson[23] inWestchester, New York. He attended theHackley School, a privateIvy League Preparatory school[7][8] in nearbyTarrytown.
Olbermann became a devoted fan ofbaseball at a young age, a love he inherited from his mother, who was a lifelongNew York Yankees fan.[19] As a teenager he often wrote about baseballcard-collecting and appeared in many sports card-collecting periodicals of the mid-1970s. He is also referenced inSports Collectors Bible, a 1979 book byBert Sugar, which is considered one of the important early books fortrading card collectors.[24]
While at Hackley, Olbermann began his broadcasting career as a play-by-play announcer for WHTR. After graduating from Hackley in 1975, he enrolled atCornell University at the age of 16.[25] At college Olbermann served as sports director forWVBR, a student-run commercial radio station inIthaca.[25] Olbermann graduated from Cornell University'sCollege of Agriculture and Life Sciences in 1979 with a BS in communication.[26][27][28]
Olbermann began his professional career atUPI and theRKO Radio Network before joining then-nascentCNN in 1981.[29] Among the early stories he covered was the1980 Winter Olympics atLake Placid, including the "Miracle on Ice."[25] In the early-to-mid 1980s he was a sportscaster on the oldWNEW 1130-AM radio station in New York City. In 1984, he briefly worked as a sports anchor atWCVB-TV inBoston before heading to Los Angeles to work atKTLA andKCBS. His work there earned him 11Golden Mike Awards,[30] and he was named best sportscaster by the CaliforniaAssociated Press three times.[31][better source needed]
In 1992 Olbermann joinedESPN'sSportsCenter, a position he held until 1997 with the exception of a period from 1993 to 1994 when he was atESPN2. He joined ESPN2 as its "marquee" personality to help launch the network.[32][33] He often co-hostedSportsCenter's 11:00 p.m. show withDan Patrick, the two becoming a popular anchor team. In 1995 Olbermann won aCable ACE award for Best Sportscaster.[26] he later co-authored a book with Patrick calledThe Big Show about their experiences working atSportsCenter; he also said that the short-livedABCdramedySports Night was based on his time onSportsCenter with Patrick,ABC having been co-owned withESPN since 1985 (ESPN now produces all sports coverage on ABC, which is brandedESPN on ABC).[34] 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.[35] He made $350,000 at the end of his tenure at ESPN.[36]
Early in 1997 Olbermann was suspended for two weeks after he made an unauthorized appearance onThe Daily Show onComedy Central with then-host and former ESPN colleagueCraig Kilborn. At one point in the show he referred toBristol, Connecticut (ESPN's headquarters), as a "Godforsaken place".[36] Later that year he abruptly left ESPN under a cloud of controversy, apparently burning his bridges with the network's management;[37] 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 onSalon 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."[38] 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 sixlumbar vertebrae instead of the normal five.[38]
In 2004, Olbermann was not included in ESPN's guest lineup for its 25th anniversarySportsCenter "Reunion Week", which sawCraig Kilborn andCharley Steiner return to theSportsCenter set. In 2007, ten years after Olbermann's departure, in an appearance on theLate Show with David Letterman, 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.[39]
In 1999, Olbermann joinedFox Sports Net to be the star anchor for their sports news showFox Sports News Primetime, which was an ill-fated competitor toSportsCenter.[40] Olbermann later left that show to be an anchor and executive producer forThe Keith Olbermann Evening News, a sportscast similar toSportsCenter that aired weekly on Sunday evenings. While at Fox he hosted the2000 World Series as well asFox Broadcasting's baseballGame of the Week. In May and July 1999, Olbermann also guest-starred ten times onHollywood Squares.[41]
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 thatRupert Murdoch, whoseNews Corporation owns Fox, was planning on selling theLos Angeles Dodgers.[42] Olbermann characterized the demotion as "blackmail."[43] When asked about Olbermann, Murdoch said, "I fired him ... He's crazy."[44][45] In 2004 Olbermann remarked, "Fox Sports was an infant trying to stand [in comparison to ESPN], but on the broadcast side there was no comparison—ESPN was the bush leagues."[25]
After Olbermann left Fox Sports in 2001, he provided twice-daily sports commentary on theABC Radio Network, reviving the "Speaking of Sports" and "Speaking of Everything" segments begun byHoward Cosell.[46] In 2005, Olbermann made a return to ESPN Radio when he began co-hosting an hour of the syndicatedDan Patrick Show onESPN Radio, a tenure that lasted until Patrick left ESPN on August 17, 2007.[47] 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 onCountdown. On April 16, 2007, Olbermann was named co-host ofFootball Night in America, NBC's NFL pre-game show that precedes theirSunday Night NFL game, a position which reunited him in 2008 with his formerSportsCenter co-anchorDan Patrick. Olbermann left the show prior to the start of the 2010 season.[48]
Shortly before rejoining ESPN, Olbermann signed a contract withTBS to host the studio show portions of its coverage of theDivision Series andNational League Championship Series. He replacedMatt Winer, who had been in this role since his departure from ESPN to join theTurner Sports family, and was originally supposed to host the show with TBS'Dennis Eckersley. Instead, Eckersley was sent to joinDon Orsillo andBuck Martinez to call theDetroit-Oakland series. TBS later hiredDirk Hayhurst,Pedro Martínez, andMark DeRosa to provide analysis.Tom Verducci also joined the studio crew, as he was replaced byRachel Nichols as a field reporter.[49]
It was announced on July 17, 2013, that Olbermann would host his own one-hour nightly show onESPN2. The two-year contract would allow him to deviate from the topic of sports into realms such as "pop culture and current events",[50] as well as politics, which was a right Olbermann claimed he did not intend to exercise.[51]
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.[52] 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."[53][54][55][56] Olbermann apologized on his program upon his return March 2, but noted, "I'm much more sorry about batting practice [i.e. trolling or cyber bullying]. So for me, batting practice ends."[57]
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".[58]
In 2016, Olbermann wrote an article forBill Simmons' company "The Ringer" afterMuhammad Ali's death.[59]
In January 2018, Olbermann returned toESPN once again, presenting occasional commentaries onSportsCenter throughout the first half of 2018.[60] In May 2018, Olbermann's role at ESPN expanded to include a return to the role ofSportsCenter host and the addition of occasionalESPN Major League Baseball play-by-play.[61]
In 1997, Olbermann left ESPN to host a prime-time show onMSNBC,The Big Show with Keith Olbermann (ESPN objected to the use of the title).[36] The news-driven program, with substantial discussion, relied on Olbermann to carry the 8:00–9:00 pm hour.[36] The show typically covered three or four topics in a one-hour broadcast. Olbermann also hosted two Sunday editions ofNBC Nightly News and once co-anchored a Saturday edition of theToday show.[62] During that period Olbermann, along withHannah Storm, also co-hostedNBC Sports'pre-game coverage of theMLB1997 World Series. Olbermann became frustrated as his show was consumed by theMonica Lewinsky scandal. In 1998, he stated that his work at MSNBC would "make me ashamed, make me depressed, make me cry."[37]
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 anEdward R. Murrow Award for writing on the "Keith Olbermann Speaking of Everything" show. In addition, Olbermann wrote a weekly column forSalon.com from July 2002 until early 2003,[63] worked forCNN as a freelance reporter,[25] and was a fill-in for newscasterPaul Harvey.[64][65] Olbermann revived his association with MSNBC in 2003 briefly as a substitute host onNachman and as an anchor for the network's coverage of thewar in Iraq.
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 byPhil Donahue 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. FormerLos 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."[66]
On October 13, 2004, Olbermann launchedBloggermann, hisCountdown blog, hosted on MSNBC's website.[67] 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 formerCBS News anchorWalter Cronkite in connection to theIran Hostage Crisis,[68] for the last six years of the program, Olbermann closed every show by announcing the number of days passed since PresidentGeorge W. Bush 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.")[69]
On February 16, 2007, MSNBC reported that Olbermann had signed a four-year extension on his contract with MSNBC forCountdown which also provided for his hosting of twoCountdown specials a year to be aired on NBC as well as for his occasional contribution of essays onNBC's Nightly News with Brian Williams.[70]
Olbermann co-anchored, withChris Matthews, MSNBC's coverage of the death of fellowNBC News employeeTim Russert on June 13, 2008.[71] He presented a tribute, along with several fellow journalists, in honor of Russert.[72]
During the2008 U.S. presidential election, Olbermann co-anchored MSNBC's coverage with Chris Matthews until September 7, 2008, when they were replaced byDavid Gregory after complaints from both outside and inside ofNBC that they were making partisan statements.[73] This apparent conflict of interest had been an issue as early as May 2007, whenGiuliani campaign officials complained about his serving in dual roles, as both a host and a commentator.[74] 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.[75] Olbermann and Matthews also led MSNBC's coverage of the inauguration of PresidentBarack Obama.[76][77]
In November 2008, it was announced that Olbermann had signed a four-year contract extension worth an estimated $30 million.[78]
After beginningCountdown's "Worst Person in the World" segment in July 2005, Olbermann repeatedly awardedBill O'Reilly, host ofThe O'Reilly Factor onFox News Channel, the dubious honor.[4] The feud between the anchors originated with Olbermann's extensive coverage of a 2004sexual harassment suit brought against O'Reilly by former Fox News Channel producerAndrea Mackris during which Olbermann askedCountdown viewers to fund the purchase of lurid audio tapes allegedly held by Mackris.[79][80] In 2008 O'Reilly decided to avoid mentioning Olbermann's name on the air, and once cut off a caller who mentioned Olbermann.[81] O'Reilly has also criticized MSNBC's news commentary and political coverage without ever specifically mentioning Olbermann.[4][82][83] The rivalry continued when in 2006 at Television Critics' Association in California, Olbermann donned a mask of O'Reilly and made aNazi salute, leading to a letter of protest from theAnti-Defamation League.[84][85][86]
In an article on "perhaps the fiercest media feud of the decade",The New York Times'Brian Stelter 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.[87] On the August 3, 2009, edition ofCountdown, 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 changeCountdown's content. Olbermann maintained that he had stopped joking about O'Reilly because of O'Reilly's attacks ofGeorge Tiller, and soon resumed his criticism of O'Reilly.[88]
On October 28, 2010, days before the2010 U.S. elections, Olbermann donated $2,400 each to three Democratic candidates for Congress:Kentucky Senate candidateJack Conway, andArizona Democratic RepresentativesRaul Grijalva andGabby Giffords.[89] Grijalva had appeared on Olbermann's show immediately before Olbermann mailed the donations. In response, on November 5, MSNBC PresidentPhil Griffin suspended him indefinitely without pay for violating a network policy which required employees to obtain approval from management before making political contributions.[90][91] An online petition calling for his reinstatement received over 250,000 signatures;[92] two days after the suspension began, Griffin announced that Olbermann would return to the air on November 9.[92]
On January 21, 2011, Olbermann announced his departure from MSNBC and that the episode would be the final episode ofCountdown.[93][94] 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.[95]
On February 8, 2011, it was announced that Olbermann had become the chief news officer for the public affairs channelCurrent TV and would begin hosting a one-hour prime time program on the network at 8 pm Eastern – the same time slot thatCountdown had been on MSNBC.[96][97] On April 26, 2011, it was announced that Olbermann's new show would debut on June 20 and would be namedCountdown with Keith Olbermann.[98] Olbermann was also heavily involved in the development of the rest of the network's news programming.[99] The deal also included anequity stake in Current TV.[100]
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—includingviral video versions ofCountdown's "Special Comment" and "Worst Person" segments, as well as photographs of his outings atprofessional baseball games.[101] On May 29, 2011, the FOKNewsChannel.com domain redirected to the Current website promoting the June 20 launch.[102]
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."[103]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."[104]According toPolitico, 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 an outlet interested in hiring him. According toPolitico, 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.[105]
On September 12, 2016,GQ magazine announced that Olbermann would, as a special correspondent, host a web series covering the2016 US presidential election. The series, titledThe Closer with Keith Olbermann, aired twice weekly on GQ.com.[14] It was retitledThe Resistance afterDonald Trump's victory.[106] As of March 2017[update], it had nearly 170 million views onGQ's YouTube and Facebook.[107] 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 onThe Resistance commentaries.[108] On November 27, 2017, in episode 147 ofThe 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".[109]
On August 1, 2022, Olbermann began producing and hosting a weekday podcast titled "Countdown with Keith Olbermann", for iHeart Media.[110] 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, worst person, 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 fromJames Thurber on Fridays.
Olbermann has made several acting appearances either as himself or simply as a sports/newscaster, most notably asTom Jumbo-Grumbo (a blue whale newscaster on the MSNBSea network) in several episodes ofBoJack Horseman.[111][112][113]
Although it began as a traditional newscast,Countdown with Keith Olbermann eventually adopted an opinion-oriented format. In aCountdown interview withAl Franken on October 25, 2005, Olbermann noted that in 2003, after havingJaneane Garofalo 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.[114]
In January 2007,The Washington Post'sHoward Kurtz wrote that Olbermann was "position[ing] his program as an increasinglyliberal alternative toThe O'Reilly Factor."[115] Much of the program featured harsh criticism of prominentRepublicans and right-leaning figures, including those who worked for or supported theGeorge W. Bush administration, 2008 Republican presidential nominee SenatorJohn McCain and running mate GovernorSarah Palin,[73][116] and rival news commentatorBill O'Reilly, whom Olbermann has routinely dubbed the "Worst Person in the World".[5]
The October 2007 edition ofPlayboy 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."[117]
In November 2007, British newspaperThe 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 theLeft for some time to come."[118] Avoiding ideological self-labeling, Olbermann described his reporting in 2006 toSalon.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".[5] During the 2008 Democratic Party primaries, Olbermann frequently chastised presidential aspirantHillary Clinton for her campaign tactics against her principal opponent, SenatorBarack Obama, and made her the subject of two of his "special comments".[119][120] Olbermann has also posted on the liberal blogDaily Kos.[121]
Before the2010 Massachusetts special election, Olbermann called Republican candidateScott Brown "an irresponsible, homophobic, racist, reactionary, ex-nude model, Tea Bagging supporter of violence against women, and against politicians with whom he disagrees".[122] This was criticized by his colleagueJoe Scarborough, who called the comments "reckless" and "sad".[123] Yael T. Abouhalkah of theKansas City Star said that Olbermann "crossed the line in a major way with his comments".[124] The next night, Olbermann chose to "double down", asThe Huffington Post's Danny Shea described it,[125] on his criticism of Brown by adding the word "sexist" to his original description of the Republican candidate.Jon Stewart 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."[125]
Olbermann accused theTea Party movement of being racist due to what he views as a lack of racial diversity at the events, using photos that show overwhelmingly white crowds attending the rallies. In response, the Dallas Tea Party invited him 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.[126]
In October 2020, Olbermann called for supporters and what he described as "enablers" ofDonald Trump, including United States Supreme Court nomineeAmy Coney Barrett and conservative political commentatorSean Hannity, to be "prosecuted" and "removed from our society".[127][128] Additionally. Olbermann labeled Trump "a terrorist" and called his supporters "a blight that will be with us for generations", further saying that Trump's "only barely-human delight comes from the morons in the crowd."[129]
In March 2024, Olbermann called for theUnited States Supreme Court to be dissolved following the court's unanimous decision inTrump v. Anderson to allow Trump to remain on the ballot in the2024 election.[130]
In Olbermann's "Special Comment" segment on July 3, 2007, he calledGeorge W. Bush'scommutation ofLewis "Scooter" Libby's prison sentence the "last straw" and called for the resignation of Bush and Vice PresidentDick Cheney.[131] On his February 14, 2008, "Special Comments" segment, Olbermann castigated Bush for threatening to veto an extension of theProtect America Act unless it provided fullimmunity from lawsuits totelecom companies.[132] During the same commentary, Olbermann called Bush a fascist.[132] 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 theIraq War. He stated that Bush never should have started the war in the first place, and he accused Bush of dishonesty andwar crimes.[7]
Olbermann suffers from a mild case ofceliac disease,[133] as well asrestless legs syndrome.[7] In August 1980, he also suffered a head injury while leaping onto aNew York City Subway train.[134] This head injury permanently upset hisequilibrium, resulting in his avoidance of driving.[7] Along withBob Costas, he supports theMultiple Myeloma Research Foundation as an honorary board member.[135]
Olbermann's father, Theodore, died on March 13, 2010, of complications fromcolon surgery the previous September. His mother had died several months before.[136] 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 whichLawrence O'Donnell guest hosted in his absence, giving his views on the state of the Americanhealth care system and updating viewers on his father's condition.[137] Olbermann has dated several women involved in politics and journalism, includingKaty Tur,Laura Ingraham,Kyrsten Sinema andOlivia Nuzzi.[138]
Olbermann is a dedicated baseball fan and historian of the sport, with membership in theSociety for American Baseball Research.[139] In 1973, when he was 14 years old, The Card Memorabilia Associates (TCMA) published his bookThe Major League Coaches: 1921–1973. The September issue of Beckett Sports Collectibles Vintage included aT206 card that depicted Olbermann in a 1905-era New York Giants uniform.[140] He argues thatNew York Giants baseball playerFred Merkle has been unduly criticized for hisinfamous baserunning mistake.[141][a][dead link] He contributed the foreword toMore Than Merkle, a book requesting amnesty for "Merkle's Boner". Olbermann was also one of the founders of the first experts'fantasy baseball league, theUSA TodayBaseball WeeklyLeague of Alternative Baseball Reality, and he gave the league its nickname "LABR".[142] Olbermann wrote the foreword to the 2009Baseball Prospectus Annual.[143] In March 2009, Olbermann began a baseball-related blog entitled Baseball Nerd. He has also written a series of articles on baseball cards for theSports Collectors Digest.[144]
JANUARY 27, 1959: Keith Theodore Olbermann born in New York City, to startled and consistently head-shaking parents.
Keith Olbermann was born in New York City on January 27, 1959 to Theodore Olbermann, an architect, and Marie Olbermann, a preschool teacher...
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