The fiery and popular primetime MSNBC host was suspended on Friday, after it was revealed he violated ethics policies of the network earlier this year by making political donations to three Democrats seeking federal office. “I became aware of Keith’s political contributions late last night. Mindful of NBC News policy and standards, I have suspended him indefinitely without pay,” MSNBC President Phil Griffin said in a statement.
According to the Federal Election Commission filings, Olbermann gave the maximum $2,400 donation to Kentucky Democratic Senate candidate Jack Conway, and Arizona Democratic Reps. Raul Grijalva and Gabrielle Giffords. The contributions violated a long standing NBC policy that requires all employees get advance permission from the network before engaging in any political donations or activities that could be considered a conflict of interest.
Olbermann has admitted full involvement of his donations with the following statement:
“One week ago, on the night of Thursday October 28 2010, after a discussion with a friend about the state of politics in Arizona, I donated $2,400 each to the re-election campaigns of Democratic Representatives Raul Grijalva and Gabrielle Giffords. I also donated the same amount to the campaign of Democratic Senatorial candidate Jack Conway in Kentucky.”
But fans of Olbermann need not worry. His suspension will be short lived, as MSNBC announced yesterday that the popular host will be allowed back to work on Tuesday. Whew!
Well heck, if you blinked, you misssed the "suspension"…lolBut I guess MSNBC execs felt that they had made their point (rolling my eyes)…to say nothing of the fact that they knew better than to keep Keith off the air too long. It would've cost that station viewers. I could be mistaken(?) but I believe his show is the #1 rated show for that station.