Feb. 24--Veteran commentator Keith Olbermann has been suspended for a week by ESPN after a testy exchange of tweets with Penn State students and supporters Monday night.
"It was completely inappropriate and does not reflect the views of ESPN," the network said in a statement Tuesday. "We have discussed it with Keith, who recognizes 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 [the fundraising event] and the efforts of the students of Penn State to fight pediatric cancer should be applauded."
Last month the "Olbermann" host went on a tirade against the settlement between Penn State and the NCAA that restored the football wins that had been stripped from the program in the aftermath of the Jerry Sandusky child molestation scandal.
Possibly in response to those remarks, a woman tweeted Olbermann a link to a news story about a Penn State charity event that raised more than $13 million to help support children and their families fighting pediatric cancer.
She also included the first two words of the school's signature chant, "We are Penn State!" To which Olbermann replied in a tweet, "....Pitiful."
@lisaadeleon ...Pitiful
-- Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) February 23, 2015
Many Penn State supporters took Olbermann's response to mean he was calling the charitable effort pitiful. He responded directly to those people, calling them names and hurling insults at them while claiming that his tweet reflected his belief that Penn State students are the ones who are pitiful.
.@dave_seidel No, Son. I said PSU students were pitiful. Had nothing to do with fundraising #AlsoPSUReadingComprehensionAppearsToBeWeak
-- Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) February 23, 2015
.@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
.@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
.@dave_seidel Did you learn that at Penn State too? Fired once in 35 years. Sorry to interrupt your stupidity -- carry on.
-- Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) February 23, 2015
More PSU education. My trash what? RT @COLTS_R_BETTER @KeithOlbermann your trash
-- Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) February 24, 2015
More PSU. You can't be "still hired," Goober RT @arjunarun1 Why is @KeithOlbermann still hired by ESPN? Shameful.
-- Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) February 24, 2015
.@ColinBenner Good for you. Doesn't change the school's reputation. Check back next century.
-- Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) February 24, 2015
"You are" or "you're" RT @psurn92 @KeithOlbermann you a pitiful human being. PSU students raised 13 mill for kids with cancer.
-- Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) February 24, 2015
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
By Tuesday morning, however, Olbermann had changed his tune, tweeting out an apology and this time calling himself "stupid."
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
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