After a 16-year absence, Keith Olbermann is returning to ESPN, the New York Times reported Tuesday night.
Rumors had been swirling for weeks that the former Current TV anchor was "in serious discussions" with ESPN, but apparently the deal will officially be announced on Wednesday.
According the Times, Olbermann, 54, will host a late night talk show from New York that will air on ESPN 2. Although Olbermann may discuss other topics besides sports, his new contract reportedly forbids him from talking about politics on the program.
This morning Melissa Mullins called our attention to a clear violation by Olbermann of his contract terms:
On his ESPN 2 show, Keith Olbermann decided to mix politics and sports when he named Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz as his “Worst Person in the Sports World.” This alone makes no sense, as Cruz has nothing to do with the “sports world,” but it’s Keith Olbermann – nothing really makes sense when it comes to him.
As Trent Baker at Breitbart reported, Olbermann decided to take issue with a harmless joke Cruz told when visiting Rep. Jim Lyons in Massachusetts this past weekend. Cruz opened the conversation by saying, “Tom Brady was framed and I have it on good authority that Hillary Clinton did it….Why do you think she deleted her emails?” This of course is in reference to the New England Patriots “deflategate” scandal, and Clinton deleting so many emails from her private server.
...Following up on his comment, Olbermann said, “Hey Senator Ted ‘Brady-Was-Framed’ Cruz, Ball-ghazi! That’s 18 years of Senate hearings you can waste money on.”
In my opinion, I find it disrespectful when a “journalist” decides to mock a terrorist attack on the 11th anniversary of September 11 that killed four Americans. But again, this is Keith Olbermann we are talking about.
Olbermann clearly violated his contract with ESPN. Whether the sports network, already featuring progressive kooks like Mike Lupica and Mitch Albom, lives up to its word is highly doubtful.
Hat tip: BadBlue News.
Whoever wrote this blog: time to fall back and regroup. There are no "contract violations," and here's why:
ReplyDeleteThe assumption regarding Olbermann's supposed contract contained in the article you cite -- which was posted before the new show had debuted -- was corrected almost immediately by none other than ESPN'S CEO and PRESIDENT.
The actual understanding they have has since been reiterated on many occasions, and is simply this: WHEREVER POLITICS INTERSECTS WITH SPORTS, Olbermann may comment about it.
If he wishes to comment, that is, which he doesn't always. But one such comment (Olbermann's condemnation of the extermination of stray dogs in Sochi at the time of the Olympics) gained him a Sports Emmy nomination this year.