MSNBC anchor David Shuster suspended indefinitely because of CNN pilot

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MSNBC anchor David Shuster has been suspended indefinitely from appearing on the air after network officials learned that he taped a pilot for CNN in violation of his contract.

Shuster, whose deal with MSNBC was not set to expire until December, shot a pilot with NPR’s Michel Martin for the competing network in recent months. MSNBC officials were incredulous when they learned about it from a report Friday in the New York Observer. The action triggered an immediate reprimand from MSNBC President Phil Griffin and Shuster was yanked off his usual noon PDT time slot Friday.

Shuster has rankled network executives in the past. Earlier this year, he was ordered to stop tweeting after he used his Twitter account to harangue conservative activist James O’Keefe and called a viewer “stupid and lazy.” He later apologized and has not posted on the site since late January.

During the 2008 presidential race, the anchor was suspended for two weeks after he said Chelsea Clinton was “sort of being pimped out’ as she stepped up campaigning for her mother.

Shuster, who joined MSNBC in 2002 from Fox News, has served as a correspondent and anchor at the network, most recently in the 7 a.m. and noon PDT hours.

-- Matea Gold