Keith Olbermann: I Believe in Redemption
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Keith Olbermann is back at ESPN and he's there because he believes in redemption. He tells
Olbermann who has an ego as big as any in the business, and eventully wears out his welcome everywhere he's been, says that he wants to try and stay at ESPN this time.
Good luck with that.
GQ: Do you believe in redemption?
Keith Olbermann: Yeah. I wound up working for ESPN again because I believe in it and because I was pursuing it. I've made no secret of this, and I believe it sincerely. As I said several times, if there's anybody who bothers to write an obit for me, it will include something in the first paragraph about contentious exits. And I'd like to change that. So yeah, I kind of believe in redemption. This is my third tour at ESPN. I've had two at NBC, an eight-year run. We retire our presidents at eight years; I think we should retire our political commentators at something less than that. So I believe in it, and it's not necessarily a permanent thing, but in this case I want to try to make it as permanent as circumstances will allow.
GQ: Can you be successful without anger?
Keith Olbermann: It depends on what people perceive me from. I mean, there was not an awful lot of anger on SportsCenter.
GQ: You've spoken in the past of being bullied in grammar school. Do you feel at a certain point you became the bully? That you crossed over?
Keith Olbermann: No. Because a bully is fighting out of a need to dominate. And is usually unwilling to take the consequences.
