There he blows. Barely a year ago the mercurial anchor was being welcomed as both the savior and face of the upstart San Francisco-based cabler in its quest to ape the success of MSNBC as a news alternative for liberal viewers. Today he was unceremoniously shown the door, without being allowed to sign off. Former New York governor and short-time CNNer Eliot Spitzer takes Olbermann’s spot, starting tonight, Media Decoder says.Add: It had been presumed that Olbermann had patched up differences with Current co-founders Al Gore and Joel Hyatt after a temper tantrum in January in which he boycotted his own show during the early GOP primary season, demanding more control. Apparently not. Here’s the joint statement released by Gore and Hyatt:
“We created Current to give voice to those Americans who refuse to rely on corporate-controlled media and are seeking an authentic progressive outlet. We are more committed to those goals today than ever before. Current was also founded on the values of respect, openness, collegiality, and loyalty to our viewers. Unfortunately these values are no longer reflected in our relationship with Keith Olbermann and we have ended it.”Meanwhile: Olbermann is spewing aplenty on Twitter, declaring, among other things, that “the claims against me in Current’s statement are untrue and will be proved so in the legal actions I will be filing against them presently.”
