Keith Olbermann files suit against Current TV

[MindMover]

Last edited Fri Apr 6, 2012, 12:51 PM - Edit history (2)

Source: Politico

When Current TV terminated Keith Olbermann's contract last week, the outgoing host announced his intention to file suit against the company.

He has apparently followed through on his word: According to "exclusive" reports from E Online and TMZ, Olbermann filed suit this afternoon in Los Angeles County's Superior Court, claiming Current TV wrongfully terminated his contract.

"It goes almost without saying 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," Olbermann wrote in his statement last Friday night.

Olbermann had a $50-million, five-year contract with Current TV, which was founded by former vice president Al Gore and business partner Joel Hyatt in 2005. He was there for only one year.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2012/04/olbermann-files-suit-against-current-tv-119758.html

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[hlthe2b]

1. Current is already seriously strugggling. If Time Warner pulls their contracts...

and if this case advances, I think it will be the death nail.

Without taking sides on this (though I can see blame on both sides), I'm just saddened. The saga of Air America Radio about broke my heart. To lose more progressive media is just damned sad and for that reason alone, I can't help but be frustrated with KO. sigh....

[Auggie]

3. +1

[harmonicon]

35. The problem is that trying to have leftist media is doomed from the start.

You just can't compete with capitalism. In a model that favours the right-wing, how could a left-wing media outlet survive? Everything is stacked against them from the start. What is needed to bring balance to the media is the reinstatement of the fairness doctrine and more strict controls from the FCC regarding licensing.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

2. Dang it all.

[Laurian]

4. Why, why, why did Current offer Olbermann such a lucrative contract

if they didn't have the financial wherewithal to produce a high quality program so that their investment would pay off? Seems like mighty poor business decisions were made.

I had such high hopes, but the comparison to Air America is spot on....

[Snake Alchemist]

6. Why couldn't the Miami Dolphins ever give Dan Marino the team he needed to win the SB? nt

[anti-alec]

5. While I admire KO for his work....

but I think his ego just got the best of him.

If he really wanted to help the progressive cause, it has to be NOT about him, but progressive causes.

I'm with Current in this one, I think..

[SamG]

7. YES +1000! Why does someone making more than

a few million a year have to sue anyone for anything other than serious malpractice of medicine or law?

I'm with Current TV too.

Screw a multimillionaire who wants more money.

FUCK Keith, when most of us are struggling to pay our bills, and he thought you were with us.

He was and is only out for himself. End of Olbermann's wonderful moments on TV, he is toast, and he will sorrily bring down our last channel of progressive politics, just because of his own selfish singular ego.

[harmonicon]

36. So no one should ever act on principle?

What then is the purpose of a contract? What is the purpose of civil law? Should stealing from a rich person be more legal than stealing from a poor person, because they can afford the loss?

[SamG]

37. What then is the purpose of a contract? BOTH PARTIES MUST....

fulfill the contract. Sorry, Keith didn't!

How simple is that? Not something you need to go to law school to learn!

Unless you are not looking at facts, and just want your side to win.

[harmonicon]

39. I have no "side" here.

I've never seen a single episode of any of this guy's shows, and I could care less what he does for a living. I just have a problem with the argument that a rich person shouldn't file a lawsuit if they feel they were wronged, just because they can afford not to. Let the courts sort it out. I don't see a point in taking a side in a stranger's lawsuit against an employer I also have no contact with.

[SamG]

40. "the argument that a rich person shouldn't file a lawsuit"

What kind of logic are you using here? Did you look at the issues of "legitimacy" versus "frivolity"? before you posted that post?

I will make an ass of you and me by assuming that anyone that ears, oh, say, over 100,000 a year, and in this case earns 100 times as much, someone who went to college at Cornell, someone who knows a bit about labor law, having been fired or having quite more than 3 times beforehand, someone in their fifties, who can actually do research, and can actually write about legal issues.. someone like that.

When someone earning 10 million plus a year in the profession of factual research and media presentation doesn't bother to show up for scheduled work over 40 times in a year, when someone like that wants more money than 10 million after they are fired for non-performance of their job.. you actually think these people deserve more rights than anyone else with a similar education, similar skills and similar capabilities?

No, you fail to make your case. Millionaires have legitimate access to tort litigation when their case is credible, based upon their ability to mount a credible case in contract law. No other way. In this case, there is no such ability of Olbermann to do so, given his background, skills, and research and reporting capabilities.

He's flaming out! Regretfully, Keith is OVER, and I love his work over the past 8-10 years, when he actually worked, sorry to see a progressive liberal Democrat go down in such a self-serving irrational way.

[harmonicon]

41. It's up to the court system to determine if the lawsuit is frivolous.

If you have the ability to do the courts' work based on your opinions culled from web articles, we're in luck. So much time, money, and energy can be saved by just having you make these determinations. Whew... that'll knock out loads of the national debt right there.

[gtar100]

42. Didn't show up for scheduled work 40 times in year? For real?

Gee I wonder if I could get away with that and then sue my employer so I would never have to work another day in my life.

[BigDemVoter]

17. Yes, I agree with you

100%. I like K.O. but he's been proven to have a difficult personality, and I, like you, am with Current on this as well.

[jade3000]

18. +1

What possible good could come of this, other than KO stroking his ego?

[marble falls]

8. I guess the gloves are off.

[awoke_in_2003]

9. Keith, I love you...

I really, really do. But you have to show up for work to keep a job. Hell, I stopped DVRing your show because you were never on it.

[SamG]

11. Very incisive comment.

Keith is off on his own ego.

This is the sorry end of Keith's reputation and celebrity for progressive thinkers.

Don't worry, there's a hundred more Keith's out there, all without this silly ego that thinks they actually deserve more money than they were already paid for actual work.

[Hoyt]

10. KO helped me through some the tough bush years -- but Jeeeeez, it's time to grow up.

He's coming across as just another money-grubbing jerk IMO.

[mckara]

12. I Agree with Keith!

Perhaps, Keith can set up his own progressive satellite channel after winning the lawsuit.

[Siwsan]

13. I doubt he could work for himself without quitting or getting fired by himself

I mean, really. I loved Countdown but the pattern is definitely there - he has a run away ego. I would have done a show out of a cardboard box on the corner of Court and Saginaw Street, downtown Flint for 1/10th of what he was getting.

[tularetom]

14. This is why you should always do a background check before you hire somebody

preferably including contact with previous employers. Perhaps if Current had spoken to Olbermann's former bosses at ESPN, Fox Sports, and MSNBC, they wouldn't have made him such a generous offer.

[1monster]

33. I'm wondering if you read the lawsuit? I've read up through page seven,

and, while I agree that Olbermann has a big ego (with good reason), the major problem seems to be Current's inability to run a cable compnay under Hyatt, who thought that a three-month apprenticeship under Mark Rosenthal was enough for him to be able to be CEO.

Current did themselves a lot of good by hiring Olbermann, and it seems as though he was willing to keep the show going while demanding that the production and other values improve, Current wasn't willing (or perhaps wasn't able) to work out the problems. By firing Olbermann, Current has done itself and Olbermann serious damage.

As for the absences, the one "unauthorized" period of absences was a week's vacation in January which was RETROACTIVELY deemed unauthorized and one day in March which Current preempted anyway. Yes, Olbermann was out quite a bit after Christmas, but those were doctor-ordered authorized absences. Apparently, Current cynically counted on people believing that Current was firing him for all of the absences.

You don't promise what you can't deliver in a legal contract.

I don't deny Olbermann's reputation of having a big ego or being hard to work with. That's part of the package that Current bought. If they couldn't take it, they shouldn't have attempted to buy it.

[randome]

34. The lawsuit is his version of what went wrong.

You can't always tell what happened based on one person's version.

[frylock]

15. good luck finding another gig, chandelier..

who in their right mind would hire this gas can wielding prima donna after this?

[Laurian]

16. You should read the actual lawsuit (linked from the Politico story noted above).

I know it's just one side of the story, but Keith has my support. Especially interested to read about Current's poor treatment of David Schuster, another favorite of mine.

[Fearless]

19. Ugh his ego takes up its own row on a plane.

[ellenfl]

20. the comments cement my opinion of politico. eom

[no_hypocrisy]

21. I have a couple of problems with Keith's attempt to find "justice".

1. If he wins or settles, there goes Current TV. It will follow Air America to Liberal Media Heaven.
2. Keith made a public mea culpa with David Letterman about 48 hours ago. If he accepts some or all of the blame, all that's left to be done is a motion for dismissal.

In his first interview since being fired by Current TV, Keith Olbermann told David Letterman on The Late Show Tuesday that “I screwed up really big.”

Explaining his ouster using a drawn-out metaphor, he said, “It’s my fault it didn’t succeed in the sense that I didn’t think the whole thing through."

Read more celebrity gossip at: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/04/keith-olbermann-to-david-letterman-i-screwed-up-big-time/#ixzz1rDdeNvgA

[SadPanda]

22. "After Being Enticed to Leave MSNBC" Huh?

That's the first statement of his main argument. It's false. He was fired. MSNBC agreed to pay the last two years of his contract. Period.

Read this:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/22/keith-olbermann-fired-msn_n_812637.html

Bottom line is Olbermann flamed out of MSNBC, talked the Current TV people into a HUGE contract, and then proceeded to constantly badmouth the network and not show up for work. In exchange he got another 10 million and now he wants another 70.

[Mosaic]

23. We the People are the media now

Keith will now become one of us, a blogger, a commenter, a twitterer, etc. In the 21st century, as tv dies a natural death, we the people become the new media, the media of truth, loyalty, and trust.

[wordpix]

26. and KO will be making the same money as we do as bloggers? I don't think he'll go for that.

[JNelson6563]

24. ..and they were mean to me and...

sometimes, at parties, they pretended they didn't know me!1! *sob*

heh Just kidding. Mostly.

Julie

[high density]

25. Pretty snarky lawsuit

It even goes as low to do a sort of "Al Gore invented the internet" slam.

The bottom line is that Olbermann is clearly a high maintenance individual who expects a Ritz Carlton-like production experience. Thinking that a startup TV network could provide that was ridiculous.

[wordpix]

27. poor Keith, million$ per year + not showing up for work = not enough for him

I love Countdown but this is too much. Now that he's made millions, he could retire rich, maybe volunteer for good causes and do whatever he wants. Instead, he's going to be bogged down with a lawsuit for years. Too bad, this is his rep we're talking about.

[Beacool]

28. The guy is a jerk, was a jerk and will continue to be a jerk.

Just because he's a liberal doesn't excuse his behavior. His ego, lack of grace and zero team spirit are notorious. He has had problems at every network that hired him. Reminds me of William Shatner, another jerk who was despised by his colleagues on Star Trek.

[Tom Ripley]

29. I have no problem with Olbermann sticking it to Gore; Keith spoke out against the bush admin far

more than dear old Al did so.

[alp227]

30. Republicans will make Keith the face of tort reform

once Current goes the way of Air America.

[Seeking Serenity]

31. I think the name of KO's company is, unfortunately, telling.

"Olbermann Broadcasting Empire, Inc."? Empire? Really?

I think that says a lot about the size of his ego. "Why not "Olbermann Broadcasting Enterprises" or just "Olbermann Broadcasting, Inc."

"Empire."

[wordpix]

38. "Empire?'' ugh, that says it all

[bayareaboy]

32. I like Keith but he needs to go away for a while ...

and yes his ego gets in the way. He isn't Edward R Murrow and I don't think he will be.

perhaps he needs to go back to doing sports for a while, then do some independent work.

[Major Hogwash]

43. Wow, a 5-year contract.

And they wouldn't even honor 1 year of his contract.