Garrison Keillor fired from Minnesota Public Radio over allegations of inappropriate behavior
Writer and radio personality Garrison Keillor says he has been fired from Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) over allegations of inappropriate behavior.
The former host of "A Prairie Home Companion" told the Associated Pressvia email he'd been fired over "a story that I think is more interesting and more complicated than the version MPR heard."
SEE ALSO:Finally, a startup that takes reporting sexual harassment seriouslyMinnesota Public Radio confirmed the news, saying he was terminated "after learning of allegations of his inappropriate behavior with an individual who worked with him," without giving further details.
"Based on what we currently know, there are no similar allegations involving other staff," a statement added.
MPR added that it will end broadcast of "The Writer's Almanac," which Keillor produced, and rebroadcasts of "A Prairie Home Companion," the weekly radio show Keillor created and hosted from 1974 until last year. Musician Chris Thile took over the music and news program when Keillor retired -- MPR and American Public Media announced it will change the show's name to further cut ties with Keillor.
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The timing of Keillor's departure is a little awkward. The Washington Postpublished an op-ed from Keillor on Tuesday night, entitled 'Al Franken should resign? That's absurd,'in which he wrote that talk of Franken stepping down was "pure absurdity, and the atrocity it leads to is a code of public deadliness."
The unfortunate chain of events didn't go unnoticed.
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Keillor recorded his final installment of "Prairie Home" during a live broadcast at the Hollywood Bowl in July 2016 after almost 42 years. In addition to continuing to produce the now-canceled "Writer's Almanac" for public radio, he went on to write regular columns for The Washington Post.
UPDATE Nov. 30 1:05 p.m. PT
The Washington Post's editorial page editor Fred Hiatt announced Thursday the paper wouldn't be publishing any more columns from Keillor, and expressed disappointment that he wrote a column on the subject while knowing he was under investigation.
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