Olbermann quashes idea of playing nice with O’Reilly and News Corp.
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MSNBC personality Keith Olbermann is disputing a report that his feud with Bill O’Reilly, Fox News and News Corp. has had the kabosh put on it.
On the Monday night telecast of ‘Countdown with Keith Olberman’ (see video below), the liberal cable talk show host blasted conservative O’Reilly, News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch and -- hey, go for it, Keith -- New York Times reporter Brian Stelter, who wrote a front-page story in Saturday’s New York Times claiming that Murdoch and Jeffrey Immelt, the CEO of MSNBC parent General Electric, had persuaded Olbermann and O’Reilly to stop throwing mud at each other.
Olbermann said he told Stelter ‘on and off the record’ that there was no such deal and that he hadn’t been asked by his bosses at MSNBC or GE to tone it down. And to prove his point, he went on to call O’Reilly a ‘racist clown’ -- and then ironically criticized Murdoch for trying to muzzle O’Reilly. All three made it on Olbermann’s daily honor roll of ‘World’s Worst Person.’
The Los Angeles Times also reported on the detente attempt, ahem, ahead of the Grey Lady (but who’s keeping score?). Our story was kinda dubious of such an accord, noting that both O’Reilly and Olbermann had continued taking pot shots at each other long after said truce supposedly went into effect in June.
Fox’s O’Reilly did not get into the feud on his show tonight. But there’s always tomorrow.
-- Joe Flint