ESPN Suspends Olbermann Over Penn State Tweets

He slams students, school in series of exchanges
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 24, 2015 2:44 PM CST
ESPN Suspends Olbermann Over Penn State Tweets
In this 2011 photo, Keith Olbermann leaves a taping of the "Late Show with David Letterman" in New York.   (AP Photo/Charles Sykes, file)

Keith Olbermann is in hot water with the boss again, this time the boss being ESPN. The network suspended him for a week after a series of tweets in which he slammed both Penn State and the students who go there. "It was weird and unnecessary," writes Barry Petchesky at Deadspin, because it all stemmed from a seemingly non-controversial subject—an annual school marathon that raises money for research into pediatric cancer. When a student tweeted to Olbermann the phrase "We Are!" with a reference to the $13 million raised, Olbermann finished her sentence by tweeting "...Pitiful," reports the Philadelphia Inquirer.

That set off a series of exchanges in which Olbermann wrote things such as:

  • "No, Son. I said PSU students were pitiful. Had nothing to do with fundraising"
  • "Again - get your $ back - you didn't learn how to read. PSU students are pitiful because they're PSU students - period."
  • "I'd like to thank the students and alums of Penn State for proving my point about the mediocrity of their education and ethics."
And more. Which led to this tweet today: "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." (More ESPN stories.)

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