We Don't Know If Rachel Maddow Vetoed Keith Olbermann As Her Replacement -- But We Hope She Did

Keith Olbermann claims Rachel Maddow vetoed MSNBC's plans to hire him as her replacement at 9 pm, keeping him unemployed.

"Keith Olbermann, who shaped the network’s liberal voice before being canned more than a decade ago, was in lengthy discussions with NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell and news boss Cesar Conde to return to MSNBC and take over the key 9 p.m. time slot, the former Countdown host told Source Material," Source Material reports.

"But any dream of an Olbermann reunion was squashed when Maddow—who recently signed a massive $30 million deal to work less and transition out of her nightly broadcast—stepped in to personally veto him as her successor."

It's unclear whether Maddow's new contract, which allows her to vacate her nightly program this spring, includes the option to pick her successor. It hardly makes sense why it would, or why she'd care who replaces her as she pivots to new projects. Thus, it's possible Olbermann is lying about Maddow's "veto power."

Olbermann may just be desperate to get back on television and sought Maddow's help.

“I offered to have her production company ‘produce’ the show. Would give her some proxy control and a fuckton of money but she and Phil Griffin refused,” Olbermann said.

Olbermann credits himself for Maddow's rise in the liberal media sphere. He's jealous of Maddow and thinks she owes him. So one could surmise that MSNBC chose not to hire Olbermann for other reasons and that he's blaming Maddow out of spite for not helping him during his negotiations.

Olbermann is notoriously bitter -- ask his former colleagues at ESPN, MSNBC, GQ and Current TV.

Because of the uncertainty of his claims, OutKick has reached out to MSNBC to see whether Olbermann's version of the story is accurate. The network has not responded.

That said, consider it a boss move if Maddow did in fact quash Olbermann's return. Props to her. Olbermann has always been eccentric and off-putting. He's better suited to live with dogs than people. However, his recent outbursts go beyond deranged.

In 2021 alone, Olbermannblamed Dave Portnoy and Barstool for a school shooting in Michigan, said the U.S. should prevent Texans from accessing the vaccine, called for Tucker Carlson’s arrest and spread misinformation about Ashli Babbitt.

Then just this past Monday, Olbermann called for the US military to detain both Tucker Carlson and Tulsi Gabbard because "hey are Russian Assets and there is a war." 

Olbermann is living proof of what lies, misery, hypocrisy, and baseless indignation do to a human being after so many years. The sad state of Olbermann is a warning to the woke. This is how it ends: lonely and pathetic.



Olbermann recently tried to capitalize on his insanity by posting rants from his Manhattan balcony on YouTube.

Yet for some reason, hardly anyone clicked on the old man yelling from his penthouse about masks, vaccines and modern-day Nazis. As a result, he canceled his own low-budget show. Stunning, huh?

It seems as though even nutty liberals -- and there are many -- don't want to see Olbermann anymore.

By the way, if Maddow does have veto power and blocked Olbermann's return, perhaps she could veto Joy Reid next?