Wednesday 29 November 2017

Garrison Keillor fired over allegations of his inappropriate behavior

Someone once described Garrison Keillor's weekly music and variety program Prairie Home Companion as "comedy adjacent," which sums it up for me. (If you don't get the joke, real estate listings in Los Angeles are sometimes described as being "Beverly Hills adjacent"). Anyway, Mr. Keillor is now job adjacent after Minnesota Public Radio fired him over “allegations of his inappropriate behavior with an individual who worked with him.”

From NYTimes:

Mr. Keillor, 75, said he was fired over “a story that I think is more interesting and more complicated than the version M.P.R. heard,” according to The Associated Press.

Minnesota Public Radio said it would also cut off all business relationships with Mr. Keillor’s media companies, including ending distribution and broadcast of “The Writer’s Almanac” and rebroadcasts of “The Best of A Prairie Home Companion hosted by Garrison Keillor.”

Taking a cue from the Trump organization -- which recently launched the "Scion" hotel brand because who the hell would want to stay in a Trump hotel -- M.P.R announced that it would change the name of “A Prairie Home Companion,” which has been hosted by Chris Thile since late 2016. Any suggestions for a new title? How about “A Prairie Home Companion Who Won't Behave Inappropriately.”

Garrison Keillor Poetry Reading Taken at the 2011 National Book Festival in Washington DC. Photo by Ryan Somma/Wikipedia.