Veteran sportscaster and political pundit Keith Olbermann (Trump Is F*cking Crazy: (This Is Not a Joke), The Big Show: Inside ESPN’s SportsCenter) announced his departure from ESPN yesterday, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Olbermann detailed his reasons for leaving in a series of tweets Tuesday afternoon.
Olbermann opted to part from the Disney-owned network to lead his own political show on YouTube. According to The Hollywood Reporter, his new series entitled The Worst Person in the World will specifically focus on the election. The show is set to launch today at 5 PM ET airing daily.
“I have adhered to [ESPN’s] desire for their sportscasters to refrain from purely political commentary (an approach with which I largely agree), and they have now agreed with my desire to go and serve my country by focusing my energy on political commentary,” Olbermann tweeted, via The Hollywood Reporter.
Olbermann had recently returned to ESPN in 2018, contributing commentary for SportsCenter and doing play-by-play work for some of the network’s Major League Baseball channels, via The Hollywood Reporter. His career in sportscasting dates back to the early 1990s, with various stints working for MSNBC. His most recent venture into the political realm was a series called The Resistance, which aired on GQ.com in 2017.
Olbermann hosted ESPN’s Sportscenter from 1992-1997. He then transferred to Fox Sports Net from 1998-2001 as a producer and anchor. His political commentary began as host of Countdown with Keith Olbermann at MSNBC in 2003. The years prior to his return to sports, he was the chief news chief officer at Current TV for two years.