Keith Olbermann’s run at ESPN2 had been remarkably uneventful, until now. ESPN has suspended him for a week after some controversial comments about Penn State this week.
The trouble began on Sunday when a student tweeted a link to a Daily Collegian story about how Penn State students raised over $13 million for the Four Diamonds Fund for THON 2015. The charity raises money to help children fight pancreatic cancer.
Lisa Aiello DeLeon wrote “We Are!” with the link, directed at Olbermann. He then responded, “...Pitiful.”
Then, Davie Seidel, a Penn State alumnus, wrote to Olbermann, “So @KeithOlbermann says PSU students raising over $13m for pediatric cancer research is ‘pitiful.’ No sir, u r the definition of the word.”
Rather than ignoring it, Olbermann wrote, “No, Son. I said PSU students were pitiful. Had nothing to do with fundraising #AlsoPSUReadingComprehensionAppearsToBeWeak”
Olbermann continued to tweet to Seidel, as if taking the bait. He continued to insult Penn State students. He also shot back at others who sent him insults.
An hour ago, Olbermann suddenly apologized, writing, “I apologize for the PSU tweets. I was stupid and childish and way less mature than the students there who did such a great fundraising job.”
It turns out that he was probably asked to do so by ESPN, since the network has now suspended him for the remainder of the week.
As USA Today notes, Olbermann has recently been taking shots at Penn State on his ESPN2 show. Last month, he had Penn State and the NCAA on his World’s Worst list when the NCAA reached a settlement to end the punishment for the Jerry Sandusky Scandal.
screenshot from Keith Olbermann YouTube page