NEW YORK — Keith Olbermann apologized to his fans — but not to NBC News — on Monday for the “unnecessary drama” surrounding his two-day suspension for making political donations.
The “Countdown” host complained that he was being punished for mistakenly violating an inconsistently applied rule that he had known nothing about. He said he learned he was being suspended after being assured that form of discipline wouldn’t be taken.
Olbermann was suspended without pay Friday by his bosses at MSNBC, a suspension that they announced two days later would be lifted. He’s due to return to work today.
The left-leaning cable network’s most popular personality acknowledged donating $2,400 apiece to the campaigns of Kentucky Senate candidate Jack Conway and Arizona Reps. Raul Grijalva and Gabrielle Giffords. All are Democrats. NBC News prohibits its employees from making political donations unless an exception is granted in advance.
Olbermann’s bosses said they didn’t know about the donations until being told about them by a reporter.
“Certainly this mistake merited a form of public acknowledgement and/or internal warning,” Olbermann said in a statement, “and an on-air discussion about the merits of limitations on such campaign contributions by all employees of news organizations.”
Instead, he was suspended “without a hearing,” he said.
An MSNBC spokesman did not immediately reply to a request for comment on Olbermann’s statements. Phil Griffin, the network’s chief executive, has not spoken publicly about the issue.
Olbermann said he did not attempt to keep any of the donations secret and offered to “explain all this, on air and off, in the fashion MSNBC desired.”
The Progressive Change Campaign Committee took on Olbermann’s suspension as a cause, starting an online petition drive for his reinstatement that gathered more than 300,000 signatures.
Olbermann thanked viewers for their “extraordinary and ground-rattling support.”
