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UPDATE, 4:54PM: A day after a deal was reach in Keith Olbermann’s $50 million lawsuit against Current TV, the former TV host and his former employer have issued a short joint statement officially confirming the settlement:
“The parties are pleased to announce that a settlement has occurred, and that the terms are confidential. Nothing more will be disclosed regarding the settlement.”
PREVIOUSLY, TUESDAY PM: Looks like Bay Area mediation worked where LA litigation could not for Keith Olbermann in his $50 million lawsuit against Current TV. A daylong session in San Francisco at the offices of Antonio Piazza of Mediation Negotiations has led to a settlement between the parties. 
While specifics of the agreement are confidential, a source tells Deadline that Olbermann is set to receive a significant payout from Current. The former ESPN and MSNBC anchor’s deal also means it won’t impact the Al Gore co-founded Current’s recent $500 million sale to Al Jazeera. Late last week, in heavily redacted court documents filed under seal in LA Superior Court, the former Countdown frontman requested an April 24 hearing for a summary judgment to rule in his favor over Current.
Related: Olbermann On His Current TV Gig: “I Screwed Up Big Time”
Olbermann sued his former employer for breach of contact and other claims on April 5, 2012 for the full multimillion-dollar sum of his five-year contract, this after Current fired Olbermann that March after less than a year at the network. On April 6, Current filed a cross complaint claiming it had “every right to terminate Mr. Olbermann’s services.” Both parties are expected to file documents relatively soon to dismiss the case.
Olbermann is represented by Patricia Glaser, G. Jill Basinger, Garland Kelley of LA firm Glaser Weil Fink Jacobs Howard Avchen & Shapiro.
Deadline's Dominic Patten - tip him here.
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Keith O gets his Gore Bucks, but I’ll bet he won’t get a big time TV gig for some time to come. Who would want him? He’s an arrogant gas bag the eventually crashes and burns like the Hindenberg. Face it, the man can’t get along with anybody.
He will get along with his new $50 MILLION!!! LOL. He doesn’t need to be on TV. OR He can always pull a Glenn Beck and start his own network.
What $50 million? His lawsuit was for that much but they settled it for far less – you can count on it. And then after taxes old Keith will get only half of that. And then he has to pay his attorneys. And his analyst. And many others.
But whatever he ends up with he isn’t worth a plug nickel.
I’m sorry but if Bill O’Reilly and Donald Trump have gigs despite them both being gas bags, then Keith Olbermann should have no problem finding a gig.
I look forward to watching his next show.
Can’t wait to see Keith again. I’ve missed him!!
With this settlement, Olbermann will never have to work a day again…and hopefully he doesn’t.
The real problem for Keith is that the money won’t satisfy his deep desire to be back in the spotlight.
Hey Keith, if this settlement is big enough…buy your own cable channel. If it is broadcast outside of this galaxy only…I will make a donation.
Hopefully he doesn’t, because he is never working (for the same kind of money) again and he doesn’t deserve to live in poverty.
ESPN should hire Keith but they should force him to sign the most restrictive and punishing contract in the history of television. They should make him mop the floors and clean the toilets for real. He should have to do janitorial duties for two hours every day. He’s desperate to return to cable tv so they could get him to sign the most demeaning contract ever and he’d do it gladly. All they have to do is give him a contract with zero room to negotiate a take it or leave it offer. He’ll take whatever they offer him so they have him over a barrel where he belongs at long last. With no leverage because nobody else will ever hire him ever again.
silence you!
The epitome of a complete, talentless, blowhard.
Yes…brilliant idea. Go back to ESPN and do highlights!
Purgatory for you and any broadcaster.
The king is back.
Technically speaking, Keith didn’t really “win” here – this was a mediation, meaning both parties agreed to a negotiated settlement. As a result, both sides gained and lost – Keith got something, but not the $50 million he was seeking. Current didn’t have to pay him the full amount, as well as paying plus the phalanx of lawyers, and now Keith’s lawsuit won’t impede their sale.
You could say both sides “won” in a sense, but it is not the $50 million victory Keith sought.
It’s fallacious to think Olbermann did not get all — or most– of his money.
He was suing for $50 Mil plus damages. The “damages” part is where a trial could have gotten messy and consumed Current TV– possibly even scuttling (or make things much more difficult for) the Al Jazeera deal. A trial would have just brought out more embarrassing facts about Current– possibly causing Al Jazeera to question the valuation of the deal. Current had already aired most of their complaints against Keith– and everybody already knows he can be difficult to work with.
Having been through this process myself, my guess is Olbermann got EXACTLY what he wanted, with the possibility of having to pay his own counsel. If I’m right, $35 Million is more than enough to live very comfortably. Keith should be able to attend every baseball game he desires for the rest of his life. Gore & Co figure it’s a small price to pay to get their $500 Million plus for Current (and chances are, they have a massive liability policy to cover such lawsuit payouts anyway.)
The only benefits to Current in arbitration? Keep their dirty laundry out of the news during the sale process and keep Olbermann from continually reminding the buyers they’re not buying much more than Current’s carriage deals with the cable/satellite companies.
I doubt Keith thinks he “screwed up big time” now.
I have been through mediation with Tony Piazza. He is the ultimate Zen master. Everyone walked away with a fair settlement in an extremely fraught atmosphere in a couple of sessions. This was the result after almost three years of fruitless negotiations in which no one was able to advance the ball due to raging egos, unreal expectations and full blown craziness.
I’m sure the situation was the same with Olbermann v. Gore.
Hey, somebody had to pay for that broken chandelier, right?
He “won” just like Gore “won”…. It was a mediation….no winners or losers there. Also the insinuation that it was a massive settlement is dead wrong…this was under $1M
Pretty sure he got more than 1mil. Dan0621
the king is back
Will the schmucks at espn bring him back? Seems likes he’s doing the dance again to get a job! Never ends well!
Heard they turned him down flat after having dinner with one of their top execs in NYC a few weeks ago and good riddance to bad rubbish.
Keith will be back and it will be great to have him back. Anyone that gets the right wing nuts so mad like he does then I like ‘em. lol.
You’re a little confused… He doesn’t get us mad. We simply laugh at the imbecile.
I love Keith, douchebaggery and all. Hope he gets a new gig soon.
Fox is starting it’s own sports channel. Coud there be an opening?
Kieth is a very talented, opinionated, egotistical, brilliant, tone-deaf broadcaster. There is no one more brilliant in writing a definitive opinion piece on politics. His rhetoric style is excellent and his delivery can be absolutely brilliant. I still marvel about his essay on quitting smoking. He is however, a complete pain in the ass to whoever he is working for. It is very ironic that someone who can comment on politics, so brilliantly, seems to be tone-deaf to the politics of the office. I guess you could argue that he wants his voice to be undeterred so much that he is willing to take on management. Though having a purity of message is great it makes a lot of enemies at work and Kieth has learned that he is expendable.
I believe that the best move for Keith is to start his own radio show/webcast. I mean a small show with a small staff can be done with a reasonable budget. Kieth has a large enough liberal audience that he should get air time easily in New York, LA, San Francisco, Boston, etc. That would be enough to launch a product.
Thanks, that was easily the most intelligent comment so far.
Well said. Keith is the most intelligent person I know. No one could write or talk politics better than him and he knows what he’s talking about. I will help him start his own TV Political show.I never miss one of his Political shows on MSNBC .By far he’s the greatest.
I agree Anonymous
I miss him!!!’mm
I’m betting Keith got no more than five million to settle this. If he got more than that I’d like somebody who knows the amount to leak it so we know how much Al Gore paid him to go away. They were stupid to hire Keith in the first place so they got what they deserved. A couple of elite limousine liberal blowhard suing each other. Sounds like a great sit-com to me. I wish it had gone to trial it would have been the most entertaining thing ever.
Figures that a right-wing blowhard like you would have a problem with basic English grammar.
Yech.
Who in their right minds would be stupid enough to want to hire this turd? He was begging for a job at ESPN not too long ago and they told him no thanks. Unless there is a network that desperate to hire this jackass, here’s hoping networks avoid him like the plague that he is. A poor excuse for a human being that he is.
AS the 2013 ‘IN the RED’ —USURY— Terror
continues to unfold, does anyone still follow?
–much less listen to, any of the capstone media
‘sicko–phants’?
I don’t give a good damn what anyone says about Keith Olbermann. When at MSNBC and then Curent TV, he did an outstanding job. He made you think. He was there to speak up for the average man and woman.
We should be so lucky to have him in front of the camera again.
How is Kieth not radioactive by now? Who would want to hire this guy?
I love Keith Olbermann and miss his spot on anaylsis of the crazy right wing nut jobs. No one can take down the crazies like Keith..I hope he comes back to tv soon to shine a spot light on the mess that is going on in congress right now. I really missed him during the last election… i would have loved to hear what he would have had to say about the clowns running for top spot of the republican party. Hope to see you soon Keith!
Glad it was finally settled. Keith may be difficult, but he is one of the best broadcast journalists in the business. I have watched and enjoyed him for years. A big reason for changing cable carriers, was that I could follow him on Current TV. About that time Gore and others let him go. I kept the new cable carrier, it is great, but I quit watching anything on Current TV. For those right-wing nuts, he covers sports just like politics–he calls them like he sees them, and is truly accurate. It is easy to see one of the reasons that he has problems in the business is that he sees his job as keeping viewers informed, and anyone who has been around business, or government knows–this is not always liked by the powers in charge.
Too bad it had to end this way. Current had an inferior set and broadcast. It looked like a local show in a mid-sized city. Music was awful. Olberman looked like he was winging it, looking more disheveled, and less sharp. It looked like a bad marriage. Overall, Current TV, which I only ordered because of KO, had a very inferior product. I’m sure Al Gore made out like a bandit and settled for a relatively high amount for KO, so he could live his now big carbon imprint style (remember this man gives little to charity) while screaming about climate chane. Let’ ms hope he drives a Telsla while he lives in his mansion.
I love Keith. I don’t always agree with him, but who does anyone always agree with? I’m confident he did well in the negotiations but, I’m not confident he’ll be on my TV again. I’m not even confident he wants to be on TV again – at least not political TV. He’s been free to be Mr Baseball for a year and I fear baseball is where he’ll stay, seduced by the dugout.
Speaking for his fans, he is greatly missed.
The idea he doesn’t get along with anyone is false! He got along with Tim Russert; who avocated as a political commentator he should be able to express his views. He brought Rachel Maddow & Lawrence O’Donnell to MSNBC, unlike commentators on the Right he would make corrections if he mistated something. His main problem was with Chris Matthews, because Chris’ style of inviting guests on, talking over them and predicting/creating what is the Beltway Wisdom. Keith had a much more comforting approach & often disagreed with Chris, (who I believe was jealous of his ratings). He also gets along with Bill Maher, David Letterman, Micheal Moore, Ron Regan, Ben Aflac, etc. He seems to believe that there are no excuses for repeated equipment failures and finds causes and stories that resenate with a younger audience.