Keith Olbermann Was Reportedly in Talks to Replace Maddow on MSNBC — Until Maddow Vetoed Him
Rachel Maddow objected to MSNBC filling her chair with former anchor Keith Olbermann before she went on hiatus last month, according to a report.
Maddow confirmed to her viewers on Jan. 31 that she would be taking some time away to work on a series of projects, including a film.
“There’s all the stuff that I have been working on that I want to work some more on,” she said. “So, as you can tell, I’m nervous about all of this, it’s a change in my life. But it’s all for the good. I will be here this week, through Thursday of this week, and then the hiatus means and I’m just going to be off for a few weeks. Off from doing the show.”
Weeks have indeed gone by, and a revolving series of guest hosts have helped the time slot shed nearly one quarter of its viewers.
One potential fill-in host Maddow made clear she did not want anywhere near her chair was Olbermann, the Daily Beast reported in this week’s edition of “Source Material”:
To fill its upcoming Rachel Maddow void, MSNBC almost took a time machine back to the good old days of 2011.
Keith Olbermann, who shaped the network’s liberal voice before being canned more than a decade ago, was in lengthy discussions with NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell and news boss Cesar Conde to return to MSNBC and take over the key 9 p.m. time slot, the former Countdown host told Source Material.
But any dream of an Olbermann reunion was squashed when Maddow—who recently signed a massive $30 million deal to work less and transition out of her nightly broadcast—stepped in to personally veto him as her successor.
Olbermann told the Beast Maddow’s decision to reject an Olbermann/MSNBC primetime revival cost her a “fuckton” of cash.
“I offered to have her production company ‘produce’ the show. Would give her some proxy control and a fuckton of money but she and Phil Griffin refused,” he told the outlet. “I do not expect to continue negotiations with the successors to this management team.”
Olbermann, who was once Maddow’s mentor, also said the MSNBC’s management “is worse than asleep at the switch.”
Griffin was formerly the president of MSNBC, and is still a consultant for Maddow’s production company.
He stepped down in 2021 after he was accused of showing a racy photo of Maria Menounos at a staff meeting. Menounos had reportedly suffered a wardrobe malfunction.
Olbermann was fired from MSNBC in 2011, after his relationship with Griffin reportedly became strained.
The former MSNBC mainstay was later fired by now-defunct Current TV and ESPN. He now occasionally offers commentary on Twitter from a Manhattan balcony.
