NOTE: This also appears today on our sister site Leblanguage. Please visit it regularly for musings on media, sports, politics and life.
I follow plenty of people on various social media platforms, some out of habit because they once or twice posted something I thought was intriguing, I “liked and subscribed” like so many Gen Zers seem to mandate and I’m more often than not too damn lazy to opt out.
One such beneficiary of said laziness is Keith Olbermann, who I admit I have liked when he’s been in a sports commentator role, particularly when it comes to baseball, which he seems to have an encyclopedic knowledge of. When he was working for FOX at the same time I was he almost single-handedly crafted a throwback Saturday afternoon Game of the Week that meticulously recreated a different TV broadcast style by decade, starting with a nearly shot-for-shot echoing of the first-ever one where footage existed from 1939 and a damn good impression of that era’s answer to Joe Buck, Graham McNamee. He could recall incredibly obscure facts about players of bygone eras in ways that were far superior to me and my dad, and that’s saying something.
But Olbermann left FOX for good long ago, twice left ESPN and was even deemed too much of an underperformer for MSNBC prime time, and that’s hardly been a high bar. For most of this decade he’s taken the route of digital influencer, reduced to a podcast on I Heart Media that seems to produce new episodes when the whim hits him, and a heavy amount of posting to safe havens like Facebook, Threads and Bluesky to rant at literally anyone or anything that even tangentially mentions a whit of tolerance to our current administration. And lately, in what appears a determination to keep pace with the frequency of “truths” that the fuhrer-in-chief spews, Olbermann’s rants and vitriol have been taken up to Defcon 5 levels. And counting.
When he chose to weigh in last week in the wake of the death of longtime college football coach, TV personality and declared Trump supporter Lou Holtz, he chose about as scorched earth a counterpart to eulogy as possible. Naturally, THE NEW YORK POST’s Jackson Thompson noticed:
Olbermann has made it a pattern of sharing politically charged far-left statements that are often combative and ridiculed on social media, typically resulting in immense backlash….Olbermann once again incited backlash on social media Wednesday after he called …Holtz a “legendary scumbag” in an X post on the day Holtz was announced dead. “Legendary scumbag, yes,” Olbermann wrote in response to a clip of Holtz criticizing former President Joe Biden in 2020 for supporting abortion rights. Predictably, this inflamed the other side to castigate him in similar fashion. Which probably was his intent in the first place, since in the world of social media metrics qualitative volume–ahem–trumps quantitative sentiment. I can’t say I was all that much of a fan of Holtz’s in the first place, but it had nothing to do with his ideologies. I way too vividly remember how crappy a job he did losing 12 of the 14 games he coached with the Jets in a season that ultimately drove Joe Namath out of New York. Maybe Olbermann did too. I could live with that.
But when he chose to drag someone I actually know into his old man yelling at clouds vortex that’s where I got my dander up enough to react. LARRY BROWN SPORTS’ Dan Benton picks it up from here:
Former ESPN colleagues Linda Cohn and Keith Olbermann clashed on social media after the U.S. men’s hockey team won gold at the 2026 Winter Olympics in a dramatic 2-1 overtime victory over Canada…The controversy arose when Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews, who played for Team USA and scored during the tournament, joined most teammates in visiting the White House to celebrate with President Donald Trump. Matthews skipped Trump’s State of the Union address that evening. A Toronto Star opinion piece criticized Matthews, claiming he prioritized Trump over his allegiance to Canada and the Leafs, failing as team captain. Cohn defended him on X, calling the take misguided and urging critics to “be better.” Olbermann attacked Cohn, labeling her a “self-obsessed politically motivated clown.”
So you best believe I noticed when Cohn’s social media feed that I actively do choose to follow dropped a dime–hell, no, a silver dollar–in response that the POST’s
“Amazing @KeithOlbermann that you describe me how the world actually describes you,” Cohn posted to X on Friday. “What happened to you? Gaslighting and bullying a former colleague? Is that really your thing now? It’s really sad and disappointing…Everyone knows you’ve been irrelevant since you left sports and decided to share your uninvited warped world views with the rest of us. You sound bitter and miserable. I hope you get the help you need.” Olbermann replied with a simple “lol.”.
When a LinkedIn connection of mine named Cameron Penn, impressively self-described as Managing Director @ Hey Guy Media | 2x Emmy Winner | PRSA Digital Campaign Award | Executive Communications, Visibility & Reputation Leader, offered this nuanced and informed take, my own attention was amplified to Defcon 2:
I’ve worked with Keith Olbermann. And Linda Cohn. Keith can write circles around anyone. He can also light a match in a room he’s still standing in. Linda’s superpower is the opposite: 30 years of showing up, doing the work, and not making it about her…Not a critique. Not an argument. A drive-by. Lately, that’s Keith’s entire product line. He’s not offering insight. He’s selling contempt.
Penn then followed that emotional defense with a well-crafted critique of the social media conundrum that deserves your attention. And he certainly got mine. I’ll let my response to him, his most-appreciated reply and my followup speak for themselves:
SL : I’ve known Linda since Oswego and I knew Keith from LA stations and Fox . I know all about the harassment suits, hush money payments and limo drivers needed because he couldn’t get a drivers license. I also know Linda is one of the most decent human beings I’ve ever known. The father of her kids was a professional colleague of mine and he’s pretty awesome too. I would go to the ends of the Earth for Linda. I wouldn’t want to spit on the cold bitter carcass of a human being that Keith has become. Thank you for sharing your insights and acumen with those a bit more detached. And yes, I will continue to ignore Keith until he gets called downward for eternity.
CP: Steve Leblang you nailed it. There is so much, both for space and decency that goes unmentioned (and often ignored or hushed). And for the longest time, it went “just Keith being Keith.” He’s had everything going for him in every spot that most only dream of– unwavering support from above, a platform, a hefty paycheck. What gets me is not only the unhinged bitterness that he directs at those who have never really done him wrong in any capacity (Linda, Sage Steele, Lou Holtz), but the ungratefulness that comes with it.
SL: Cameron Penn for years the quality of his work in many eyes made up somewhat for his other qualities. (H)is Big Show days…his early Deuce work…(were) inarguably brilliant. When he landed at MS it was as if he was lobotomized. I saw his ratings there. He was no Maddow; not by a longshot. And unlike Rachel or Joyless Reid or even Joe and Mika he didn’t even represent a disenfranchised demo cell. 
He apparently admires (Howard) Cosell. Cosell died a bitter lonely man who blew up every significant relationship and bridge he built. I’d see him stand out in front of his building on East 68th in the dead of winter cursing at people who recognized him. But he had also lost the love of his life Emmy arguably far too young. His great-nephew who now serves as the Mets’ PA announcer has explained his demise eloquently and articulately. Keith had no such defender; jilted escorts arent so forthcoming. I have had zero empathy for his deterioration and even the most deranged TDSers can barely stomach him. Going after Linda was the last straw. May he contract what killed How-ahd.
Was I a bit too harsh on poor wittle Keithie? Yeah, probably. But the facts are what the facts are, and I’ve got as many of them at my disposal as Olbermann ever actually has, starting with how many members of the 1966 California Angels pitching staff one could name. Not to mention enough personal experience with Cohn, admittedly years removed now, to know damn well she’s among the last people whose character should attempt to be assassinated.
My most recent interaction with Cohn was when a fellow classmate of ours who had been become the first-ever coach of a women’s hockey team at our alma mater–a big deal at that school–asked us to tag-team a top high school goaltending recruit from Alaska who also had a love for broadcasting and Hollywood to provide evidence that even our small little college could give her the kind of training and connections she desired for her career goals. And since Alaska has one of the few climates anywhere that Oswego can favorably compare itself to–it’s all relative, of course–our classmate actually felt she had a shot at her. When I got to have lunch with this young woman in Los Angeles the summer after she led our Lakers to their first-ever post-season appearance I actually felt like I had contributed something to the school that gave me so much. And since I’ve never been able to give financially in the manner than Cohn’s Hall of Fame career has allowed her to, the fact I was even asked at all meant that much more to me.
I’d like to ask Olbermann what he’s done, either personally or professionally, for his alma mater, or even anyone other than himself, lately. I’d love to see what kind of receipts he could offer up. Or even amplified lies that would probably make the Truth Social community envious.
No, actually, check that. I’d much rather follow the advice Penn offered at the end of his post:
Keith can’t be fired. But he can be ignored. In 2026, that’s the deepest cut of all.
Duly noted, Cameron. And thanks again for the shout-out. I’ll admit I could use some better metrics than he has.
Courage…