Keith Olbermann Suspended by ESPN for Penn State Tweets

Anchor called students “pitiful” after their campaign to raise money for kids with cancer

ESPN
ESPN

ESPN has suspended Keith Olbermann through the remainder of this week following a heated Twitter exchange the anchor had with Penn State University students Monday night, TheWrap has learned.

“We are aware of the exchange Keith Olbermann had on Twitter last night regarding Penn State. It was completely inappropriate and does not reflect the views of ESPN,” the network said in a statement to TheWrap.

“ESPN and Keith have agreed that he will not host his show for the remainder of this week and will return on Monday,” the network added.

The spat started Monday night when a Penn State student tweeted the sports anchor a link to an article about the school’s fundraising efforts to fight pediatric cancer. The tweet included the Penn State rally cry “We Are…” to which Olbermann responded “…pitiful,” which angry tweeters took as a criticism of the school’s philanthropy efforts.

Olbermann clarified that he felt Penn State as a whole is “pitiful,” not the fundraising efforts, and went on to slam the complaining students’ intelligence.

The anchor issued a mea culpa Tuesday morning on Twitter. In its statement, ESPN applauded the efforts of Penn State’s THON in raising more than $13 million for kids with cancer. 

Tony Maglio contributed to this report.

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