ESPN's Keith Olbermann suspended after calling Penn State students 'pitiful' on Twitter

[Freddie Stubbs]

Source: The Daily Collegain

A day after the Penn State Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon raised more than $13 million to help fight pediatric cancer, ESPN personality Keith Olbermann called the Penn State student body "pitiful" on his personal Twitter account.

Now, after receiving a heavy dose of backlash from not only the Penn State community, but also from others around the country, Olbermann was suspended by the network and publicly reprimanded in an issued statement.

"We are aware of the exchange Keith Olbermann had on Twitter last night regarding Penn State. It was completely inappropriate and does not reflect the views of ESPN," the network said in a statement. "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 and the efforts of the students of Penn State to fight pediatric cancer should be applauded."

Read more: http://www.collegian.psu.edu/sports/article_8c1ce608-bc52-11e4-a621-9b3f3132b5b8.html

[randys1]

1. What reason would he say that anyway?

[KamaAina]

6. This?

[randys1]

9. I dont know what that is, sorry

[KamaAina]

11. Rioting in State College after the statue of Paterno was taken down

[randys1]

15. That is what I thought...

thanks


Keith is not a team player.

Keith is a demanding asshole.

Keith is one of the few people in America who spoke truth to power.

All true

[awoke_in_2003]

38. Right on all counts...

I miss him on MSNBC

[snooper2]

7. because he really isn't that bright and has a bit of an ego

[randys1]

10. OH he is bright as hell, and does have a very huge ego, for sure.

[Hissyspit]

33. "He really isn't that bright"

Are you kidding?

Nonsense.

[Sheldon Cooper]

2. Good. He's being a complete dick about this.

[WhoWoodaKnew]

41. yep

[TreasonousBastard]

3. Jeez. I don't like what he said, but it pales next to what...

the wingnuts say every day.

[SoapBox]

5. Ditto!

And Billo the Bully is still on air!

Maybe ESPN management doesn't like him to beat up on Billo?

p.s...so I admit that I'm confused as to why KO said that in the first place. The linked article is vague in that they don't say exactly what the ensuing Twitter argument was about.

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

13. Right - I find it hard to believe he called them pitiful because they raised $13M

There must be more to this. I'd like to hear it from KO himself... What were you thinking Keith?

[Calista241]

26. ESPN has to appeal to, or at least not go out of their way to offend, the wingnuts.

They're in the sports business, and guess what, wingnuts watch sports, just like the rest of America.

If Keith wants to be able to spout off about shit, he should get a job that allows him to do that.

[Kingofalldems]

4. When will O'Reilly be suspended?

I hope you will be just as vigilant on that one.

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

8. Keith expresses pity for Penn State students and this is his rewqard?

And Billo the Clown still drives the clown car at Fux.

[McCamy Taylor]

12. It's ok. You can't buy publicity like this.

On the plus side, he didn't claim he took a bullet during a war.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

14. Tried to find but gave up. What is the original root cause for Olbermann's Penn

State hatred.

[jtuck004]

23. Maybe something like taking credit for this while allowing child sexual abuse on campus

and finding victims through another nonprofit. Easy to google.

Apparently Keith's standards are so high that he doesn't think salvation can be bought.

I agree with him.

[alcibiades_mystery]

28. The student run THON activities have been going on for decades

There's certainly a case to be made that the student body disgraced itself through the Paterno firing riot. But bagging on THON is silly. It is utterly unconnected to anything having to do with Sandusky or even Paterno.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

37. I meant the origin of his hatred - you are saying the Paterno incident

was the start of his hatred? Hard to imagine since he was targeting the students who had nothing to do with that atrocity.

[Dont call me Shirley]

16. I still love Keith anyway, foot in mouth and all.

[mountain grammy]

21. me too

[LiberalArkie]

17. If he gets canned, about the only place left for him is Comedy Central

[WilliamPitt]

20. The Daily Show is going to need a new host soon.

Just sayin'.

[irisblue]

24. oh oh oh oh

YES!!!!!

[davidpdx]

32. It certainly does seem like a possibility with his track record

He has enough money. He should just do an online show of his own where he can say anything he wants. Then only he could only fire himself.

[mahannah]

18. ESPN hired Olbermann because he is opinionated...

[HappyMe]

19. What an ass.

It doesn't break my heart that he's suspended.

[Hissyspit]

34. He has been an amazing advocate for the downtrodden and counter to the hypocrisy of those in power.

His commentaries during the Bush years and later were fantastic and the height of truth-telling. Fantastic reportage on Iraq, healthcare and Occupy, reporting stuff no one else was.

Yeah, he can be a jerk, too. Not enough to warrant your substanceless brush-off.

[HappyMe]

35. Yeah, he was good back then.

He's doing sports now, and there is no reason for him to get into a drunken twitter fight with kids raising money for cancer. He can be good, but he is so full of himself that he is his own obstacle.

[blackspade]

22. The article does a terrible job explaining what this is all about...

[KeepItReal]

25. Screw everyone at Penn State that wants Paterno's statue and their football wins reinstated

You cannot undo the CHILD ABUSE that happened on his watch.

That football program should have gotten the death penalty.

http://www.complex.com/sports/2015/02/keith-olbermann-blasts-penn-state-students

Olbermann was foolish and wrong to get into it on Twitter with PSU students who only wanted to highlight their good cause.

[Calista241]

27. Yeah, cause all those athletes and students there now

Need to pay for the crimes committed a decade ago by someone else! REVENGE!!!!

[KeepItReal]

29. Penn State was penalized by the NCAA in 2012

The student athletes had the option leave Penn State and transfer without penalty to other schools.

Students don't have a right to college football. Ask SMU back in the days.

[alcibiades_mystery]

30. THON has nothing to do with the football program...it has raised over $100 million for pediatric

cancer research and patients since 1977.

There are plenty of GOOD reasons to criticize Penn State.

THON strikes me as a remarkably stupid place to lodge the critique.

[KeepItReal]

31. Yeah, Olbermann was wrong for responding to the fundraising Tweet like that

eom

[CANDO]

43. Jerry Sandusky raped young boys....

The man responsible will rot in prison the rest of his life. 3 people will soon have their day in a court of law to face charges related to the Sandusky situation. Joe Paterno did what he was supposed to do. Law enforcement investigated and filed no charges. For those sitting upon their high throne of self righteousness casting about their mighty moral authority, maybe should stop and wonder what they would've done had it been they who notified the correct people and yet the police and DA made no arrests. I've seen some nasty commentary directed at a lot of people who had not a damned thing to do with Sandusky raping young boys. That to me says more about the character of the stone throwers than anything they have to say regarding any innocent person who happens to attend PSU.

[bluedigger]

36. Enjoy your week off, KO!

It's slow for sports anyways these days. See you next week.

[colsohlibgal]

39. Keith

People here are being rougher on him than I figured. I mostly like Keith, sometimes he can go a bit over the line but really it's hard to defend a good deal of the people at PSU, many of who looked the other way or refused to believe what was clear.

Keith, even on ESPN, is a lightning rod because of where he is politically, and look who the parent of ESPN is.

[LiberalElite]

40. I like Keith Olbermann -

I loved his show on MNSBC. Very smart guy, very passionate, very liberal. All good except he's a loose cannon and has GOT to get a grip, sooner rather than later.

[WhoWoodaKnew]

42. I like Keith and his knowledge of baseball history is amazing, but

he's got to quit being an ass. If he could dial it back a hair he could have SO much more influence.