ESPN has suspended Keith Olbermann from his sports talkshow after a Twitter exchange in which he claimed Pennsylvania State University supporters were “pitiful” and “morons”.
The Walt Disney-owned network said Olbermann would be off air for the rest of the week, despite the presenter having apologised for his remarks.
Olbermann, who has previously described Penn State as one of the “world’s worst in sports” on his show, became embroiled in a Twitter exchange on Monday with students who were attempting to raise funds to fight pediatric cancer. In several tweets, he described the students as “pitiful”:
@lisaadeleon ...Pitiful
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) February 23, 2015
.@dave_seidel Again - get your $ back - you didn't learn how to read. PSU students are pitiful because they're PSU students - period.
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) February 23, 2015
His comments included describing one student as a “moron”:
.@dave_seidel her tweet reads "we are..." I finished her sentence "...pitiful." At this rate your diploma won't be recognized, Moron
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) February 23, 2015
After the lengthy spat, he tweeted:
I'd like to thank the students and alums of Penn State for proving my point about the mediocrity of their education and ethics.
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) February 24, 2015
On Tuesday morning, he apologised for his “stupid and childish” comments:
I apologize for the PSU tweets. I was stupid and childish and way less mature than the students there who did such a great fundraising job.
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) February 24, 2015
However, ESPN decided to suspend the talkshow host, saying the Twitter spat was “completely inappropriate”.
“We are aware of the exchange Keith Olbermann had on Twitter last night regarding Penn State,” it said in a statement. “It was completely inappropriate and does not reflect the views of ESPN. We have discussed it with Keith, who recognises he was wrong. ESPN and Keith have agreed that he will not host his show for the remainder of this week and will return on Monday. The annual tradition of THON and the efforts of the students of Penn State to fight pediatric cancer should be applauded.”
Olbermann has a track record of rocky relationships with his employers. He left MSNBC’s Countdown in 2011 after eight years after being offered a $50m deal to join the now-defunct Current TV, from which he was fired in 2012.
Current TV founders Al Gore and Joel Hyatt issued a statement saying Olbermann no longer had “the values of respect, openness, collegiality, and loyalty to our viewers”. Olbermann responded in a string of tweets attacking his previous employers.
The acrimonious dispute resulted in both parties suing each other, resulting in an out-of-court settlement. In 2013, he returned to ESPN, where he had worked from 1992 to 1997.
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