Current TV Countersues Keith Olbermann: We "Had Every Right to Terminate" Countdown Host

Network seeks to no longer have to "pay a dime to Mr. Olbermann, who [has] already been paid handsomely for showing up sporadically and utterly failing to keep his end of the bargain"

By Baker Machado, Rebecca Macatee Apr 06, 2012 9:15 PMTags
Keith OlbermannVirginia Sherwood/NBC

When you bite the hand that feeds you, be prepared for it to slap you right back.

Keith Olbermann is suing his former employer Current TV and demanding the rest of the $50 million he signed up for. The network, however, doesn't want to pay out because of Olbermann's alleged multiple breaches of contract.

In a lawsuit filed Friday by Current TV and obtained by E! News, the network points out the Countdown host said on a Late Show With David Letterman appearance that his termination was "my fault" and that "I screwed up."

Two days after that, he filed suit against his former employers, saying Current TV was a place where "dysfunction permeated all levels of the organization."

"Current had every right to terminate Mr. Olbermann's services, rather than continuing to pay a princely sum while receiving a pauper's performance in return," the network's suit says.

The Al Gore-backed network feels that Olbermann "failed to fulfill his obligations to such a material extent that Current is entitled to a declaration by the Court that it is free from any ongoing obligations to him." They further stated they "no longer [be] obligated to pay a dime to Mr. Olbermann, who, having already been paid handsomely for showing up sporadically and utterly failing to keep his end of the bargain, now seeks to be paid tens of millions more for not working at all."

The network also fires back at their ousted employee's claims they were "cheap," saying that they not only paid him the highest salary of his career, but that they "paid over $50,000 in an eight month period to eight different limousine companies because none of the previous seven were able to meet his Patrician standards for how to drive him around New York City."

Current TV's suit also includes their letter of termination to Olbermann, which cites his failure to promote the show, disparagement of the network, unauthorized absences, unauthorized selection of guest hosts and refusal to consult with the network about Countdown as grounds for his firing.

Naturally, Olbermann tweeted his response to the countersuit:  "After reading the @Current filing my attorneys and I think it should be subtitled "How To Try To Pound The Table...And Miss."

This might even uglier in court.