Keith Olbermann parting ways with ESPN — again

Keith Olbermann.
(Image credit: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)

The famously combative and mercurial Keith Olbermann is leaving ESPN again, nearly two years after he rejoined the sports network.

Olbermann, who first departed ESPN in 1997, and also had a messy breakup with MSNBC several years ago, will not be renewing his deal to anchor the ESPN2 program Olbermann, and his contract expires this month. A source told The Hollywood Reporter the decision was due to "creative differences." The Reporter previously said that ESPN wanted Olbermann to stop engaging in commentary, a condition he wouldn't accept. Network executives were also considering having him tape either in ESPN's Bristol, Connecticut, headquarters or a studio in Los Angeles rather than spending money on his Times Square set, a move that would save $40 million.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.