Rick Sanchez Tells Mediaite: “I Got Greedy And I Got Mad And I Got In Trouble”

Mediaite: You talk about the vitriol on either side. Let me ask you about Keith Olbermann, I don’t know if you saw his segment, who came out saying he didn’t think your apology was enough, for saying anyone who “may” be offended. Last week you had him on the “List U Don’t Want 2 Be On.” What do you think of Keith’s reaction and what he does with his show?

Sanchez: I think he’s got a fine point there. The “may be offended” – I think he’s right. I need to apologize because I offended people, not because I may have offended people. So to Keith’s point, he’s right. Other than that Keith is no different than the guys on Fox News. Same thing. He’s on the left and he’s going to attack anybody who is even close to being on the right. Just like the guys on the right are going to attack anybody who is close to being on the left. And I just don’t like that. I don’t like what we’re going through in this country right now. If that’s where the business is going, I’m not sure I want to be a part of the business.

“I like doing a new media, a media that’s never been done before. And I was pioneering it and I was doing so well. But I wanted more, and I got greedy and I got mad and I got in trouble.”

Mediaite: One of the people who really had your back for years was Jon Klein. Even looking back to who got you on Twitter, which obviously became a big part of your show. He left the Friday before you. What do you think of Klein’s time at CNN, and do you think if he was there last Friday you’d still be there?

Sanchez: Oh gosh, I don’t know. I love Jon Klein. Brilliant, brilliant man who did wonderful things for my career, in more ways than you could ever imagine. And, I can’t speculate. But I also think Ken Jautz is great. I love Ken Jautz. He’s been a friend for many years. And he and I had some big plans, that it now looks like aren’t going to come true.

Mediaite: I want to talk about what’s next, but immediately, people need you back on Twitter. Are you changing the handle and coming back?

Sanchez: @RicksBook. I’ll be tweeting there tonight as a matter of fact. I’m excited about that.

Mediaite: Well @RickSanchezCNN has 140,000 followers. Will they be able to transfer over to another account?

Sanchez: Hopefully we’ll be able to transfer them over to @RicksBook, which is what we’re going to call it. We’ve got the book out, we figure we might as well. The one thing I’m promoting, the one thing that I represent now, other than my own stupidity, is the fact that I’ve written this book. Where I even talk about a lot of the things I’m now embroiled in. I’ve kind of committed the very sins that I describe in the book, because I wasn’t careful enough.

Mediaite: So what’s next?

Sanchez: The thing is to get out there and talk to people. And just be honest and forthright as I possibly can. Then I need to start thinking about what I want to do. The good thing is, I can still look at myself in the mirror. And I can sit down and have this conversation with you, and be real honest. I have nothing to hide. I didn’t rob a bank, there’s nothing out there. You know everything. This whole scandal is a conversation I had on a day when I was very tired and said some things I shouldn’t have said. That’s the beginning and end of it. I don’t feel like I’ve disrespected my wife, or my family, or my God or my children in any way. That’s a big deal. That empowers you. Do I get scared? Yeah I wake up in the middle of the night scared that no one’s going to want to hire me again. And I love this business and I love telling stories and I love doing it differently than anyone else has ever done it before. And I like breaking rules, and being unconventional. And I like doing a new media, a media that’s never been done before. And I was pioneering it and I was doing so well. But I wanted more, and I got greedy and I got mad and I got in trouble.

Mediaite: That passion comes across.

Sanchez: I just want a chance to communicate with people once again. Because I love it. I love crafting the information. I love crafting the newscasts. I love winning. I mean, if you look at our record we were doing a pretty good show for a bunch of little kids there putting together that 8 o’clock show. [whispers] I mean, if you look at now… It’s like, the last night there we did 250,000 in the book. That’s a pretty good nut for a temporary fill in.

Mediaite: Have you gotten a chance to see Parker Spitzer?

Sanchez: I haven’t. I’ve been too caught up in my own thing to get a chance to look at it. I met [Eliot Spitzer], though, before I left. I just went in there and shook his hand and he seems like a nice guy. Really smart guy. I mean, does smart guy translate to television?…(Commanding the camera) takes a little while. Even when you think you own it, you screw up!

Mediaite: I think your legacy is the way you revolutionized the way that social media has been incorporated into television. Not everyone across the board does it the way you do, but almost everyone now incorporates social media in some way into their newscast. What do you think of that, and your legacy?

Sanchez: It makes me proud. If I was to get hit by a bus tomorrow, my children could go to the Newseum in Washington D.C. and see their dad’s picture there as the pioneer of social media and its marriage with mainstream media. And that’s pretty cool. It means at least I had some kind of effect. All this other stuff about what I said or what I didn’t say, I think in the long run, if I’m earnest and honest and do my due diligence and atone, I think that will pass. Maybe somebody will give me a chance to keep doing it.

(This has been edited for length and clarity.)

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