Add Keith Olbermann to the list of MSNBC hosts suspended for things they’ve said, done, or in Olbermann’s case, not done. He failed to tell his boss he was planning to donate money to the campaigns of three democratic congressmen.
The question many are asking: Will Olbermann return?
Olbermann’s colleague David Shuster, once “Countdown’s” primary fill-in, was suspended in April for taping a pilot at CNN. A few weeks after that, Donny Deutsch was suspended after a segment on a show he was guest-hosting seemed to criticize Olbermann.
Olbermann, who signed a four-year, $30 million contract extension in Nov. 2008, has left MSNBC once before.
In the late 1990’s, Olbermann had a program on MSNBC called “The Big Show.” In 1998, he left the network after protesting the incessant coverage of the Monica Lewinsky scandal. He ended up joining , of all places, Fox Sports. Olbermann was wooed back to MSNBC during the run-up to the Iraq War when MSNBC had a show called “Countdown: Iraq” hosted by Lester Holt. That show morphed into “Countdown with Keith Olbermann.”
Insiders we’ve talked to say Olbermann won’t be back. The question is whether he’ll leave or MSNBC keeps him off the air.