Garrison Keillor's been fired from Minnesota Public Radio

[octoberlib]

APNEWSALERT: Garrison Keillor says he’s been fired by Minnesota Public Radio over allegations of inappropriate behavior.

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Holy shit they didn't just fire Keillor, they're also scrubbing all the old Prairie Home broadcasts and *renaming the show* https://www.mprnews.org/story/2017/11/29/garrison-keillor-says-mpr-fired-over-alleged-improper-behavior …



MPR said in a statement that it was informed of the allegation relating to his time producing "A Prairie Home Companion" last month and retained an outside law firm to conduct an investigation.

"Based on what we currently know, there are no similar allegations involving other staff," the statement reads. "The attorney leading the independent investigation has been conducting interviews and reviewing documents, and the investigation is still ongoing."

https://www.buzzfeed.com/maryanngeorgantopoulos/garrison-keillor?utm_term=.ut02aMLbpZ&bftwnews#.ocolVjg6Rp

[WhiskeyGrinder]

1. Anyone who has ever paid attention to his columns isn't surprised by this in the least.

He is unable to write about women without gentle, homespun, plainspoken gosh-darnit contempt.

[whathehell]

5. I never perceived this on Prairie Home Companion..

but I never read anything by him.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. What, seriously? I've been listening to him on the radio

before the very beginning of MPR's existence - in the early '70s he had a show on a little FM station broadcasting from a university in St. Cloud, MN, and it was funny as hell. After KSJR/KSJN became MPR and moved to St. Paul that show morphed into A Prairie Home Companion, which was also funny as hell. I have also read many of his books and essays, and I never detected any misogyny - he skewered people of both genders equally. He's also been an outspoken and consistent liberal. I don't know what, exactly, he's been accused of (I've met him and he seemed very shy and quiet), but I have never detected anything like "contempt" for women in either his writing or his radio material.

[RhodeIslandOne]

17. Stop with the 'splaining....

Every cultural icon from Bugs Bunny to Julia Child is a piece of shit now.

[el_bryanto]

22. Well every person really. The fact that most peoples assholery is hidden doesn't mean that they

aren't assholes. I'm an asshole at least some of the time.

Bryant

[LanternWaste]

50. Your oppression is noted and given all the credibility it warrants.

Your oppression is noted and given all the credibility it warrants.

[RhodeIslandOne]

55. Your noting of a lot of what I post is also noted

I'm truly touched.

[northoftheborder]

54. Same here. Very progressive. Love his humor.

Have listened to him for years; one of my favorite people; don't see the accused misogyny anywhere in his performances or writing. Doesn't excuse private inappropriate behavior, but I can't see it in his public persona.

[cwydro]

64. Me either.

I hated when he left the show.

[Mopar151]

8. He is quietly contemptuous

Of any part of the world that he disapproves of. Like wishing bloody death on jet-skl riders

[WhiskeyGrinder]

12. Gay people, women and their neuroses, people who celebrate Christmas wrong or not at all, etc.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

20. Must be some different editions of my copies of his books..

[WhiskeyGrinder]

23. Were his columns published in books?

I'm talking about his syndicated column from the early/mid-00s. His writing definitely changed over time. The original Lake Wobegone stuff is very good. But when he started writing about current events and politics, something got away from him.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

27. I've read most of his columns as they appeared and I don't remember reading anything

offensive (sexist, racist, etc.). Keillor is and always has been a hard-core liberal so unless he's changed his politics in the last few years (and recent columns don't suggest anything of the kind), I guess I'd have to see a few of those columns for myself. His written humor tends to be pretty subtle and ironic, so maybe some points were missed...

[WhiskeyGrinder]

38. He got a lot of pushback on his Christmas column of 2009:

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2009-12-16/news/bal-op.keillor16dec16_1_silent-night-unitarian-christmas

Unitarians listen to the Inner Voice and so they have no creed that they all stand up and recite in unison, and that's their perfect right, but it is wrong, wrong, wrong to rewrite "Silent Night." If you don't believe Jesus was God, OK, go write your own damn "Silent Night" and leave ours alone. This is spiritual piracy and cultural elitism, and we Christians have stood for it long enough. And all those lousy holiday songs by Jewish guys that trash up the malls every year, Rudolph and the chestnuts and the rest of that dreck. Did one of our guys write "Grab your loafers, come along if you wanna, and we'll blow that shofar for Rosh Hashanah"? No, we didn't.

Christmas is a Christian holiday - if you're not in the club, then buzz off. Celebrate Yule instead or dance around in druid robes for the solstice. Go light a big log, go wassailing and falalaing until you fall down, eat figgy pudding until you puke, but don't mess with the Messiah.

As well as his clumsily offensive column about gay marriage, which included:

The country has come to accept stereotypical gay men—sardonic fellows with fussy hair who live in over-decorated apartments with a striped sofa and a small weird dog and who worship campy performers and go in for flamboyance now and then themselves. If they want to be accepted as couples and daddies, however, the flamboyance may have to be brought under control. Parents are supposed to stand in back and not wear chartreuse pants and black polka-dot shirts. That’s for the kids. It’s their show.

The Writer's Almanac is skewed heavily male.

His columns are only for certain people -- people like him. His sonorous voice and carefully chosen words make people feel smart and good when they listen to him. But when you really dig into it, it's important to realize just how few people he's actually speaking for.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

41. There's a whole lot of sarcasm and irony in those columns.

I remember reading them when they came out, and I interpreted the one about gay marriage as busting on the people who believe the stereotype he described, and not that he actually believes the stereotype. Same about the Christmas column, which I also read at the time and interpreted as a criticism of the commercialization of Christmas with a snark on the right-wing War On Christmas (as well as a little tease at cultural appropriation). If you've read his books you'd know he's not in the least a Christian fanatic; he was raised in a somewhat fundamentalist denomination but is far, far away from that now - I'm not sure he's religious at all. His humor is subtle and it sometimes sounds like he's saying the opposite of what he means; and he has been regularly criticized by the literal-minded. But if you read the whole thing without jumping to the more obvious conclusions you can usually see what he's really getting at. He's a bit like Jonathan Swift in that regard.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

42. Not a fan of mouthing stereotypes and pretending it's satire -- especially when there's never a

punch line. He had a platform and got lazy.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

44. You're entitled to your interpretation; I don't agree with it. So.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

45. I appreciate the discussion.

Thank you for taking the time.

[LanternWaste]

51. What specifically leads you you allege the satire is pretense?

What specifically leads you you allege the satire is pretense? Please allow us objective evidence... else we may end up thinking you're lazy as well...

[marybourg]

61. You're right, of course, V.O.

His writing is mostly a gentle form of Swiftian satire, except when he's excoriating tRump. Swift had a problem being understood also, albeit in a less literate age.

I can believe that any male with a modicum of power can become predatory, but I refuse to believe that Keillor is bigoted against any group. I've been listening to him since P.H.C. began, in 1974 and have never heard a bigoted idea, except when he was poking fun at it.

[LAS14]

67. Actually, I think he really was deploring the secularization of Christmas. I couldn't...

... agree more. We should shift Christmas to Dec 28, and rename the 25th Materialists' Delight or something.

[LAS14]

65. I couldn't agree more with his take on the secularization...

... of Christmas. I would very much like the celebration of the birth of Christ to be moved to a different date, and change the name for Dec 25 to Materialism For All, or something else.

[LAS14]

66. What have we come to if someone can't have an opinion...

... about adults wearing flamboyant clothes????

[frazzled]

15. Well I'm somewhat surprised

Not only because I never got that impression at all from his shows or writing, but because way back in the wild and wooly 90s I spent a half-hour or so all alone on a front stoop with Garrison (it was at a benefit to raise money to protect the arts and the NEA from the Gingrich Revolution) and it was one of the nicest, most polite, respectful, and delightful conversations I can recall. No moves made at all, not even any innuendo. He was exactly what I expected him to be ... an intelligent, low-key, thoughtful person.

But who knows. Still, I'm not tempted to jump to any conclusions on the basis of a single, unknown allegation. We need to be able to separate the wheat from the chaff in this maelstrom of accusations. My current list of criteria for judging:

1. Were there serial accusations over a substaintial period of time?
2. Were the accusations documented or reported to friends and family at the time?
3. Were there settlements?
4. Did the allegations involve an employee whose career or position was threatened?
5. Was it a situation of power?
6. Did others know of the behavior and say nothing? Or were young women warned to "watch out" or "stay away"?

All of these criteria fit the allegations lodged against Weinstein, Louis C.K., Charlie Rose, and (slightly adjusted) Roy Moore. Some of the others are either fuzzier or fail to rise to the level of sustained predatory behavior.

[LAS14]

68. Good list. I hope I can find it again when the details come out.

[Loki Liesmith]

53. Incorrect

[Sophiegirl]

2. DAMN!

I don’t even know what to say.

[Old Vet]

25. My feelings also, Ive been reading and listeining to him for decades......FUCK

I must say that of all the accused men lately, Iam going to reserve my opinion until I hear more information on Garrison. I have met this man many years ago and he was in person as humble as he sounds in his broadcasts, This one hits home with me.

[blimablam]

3. crap.

[TheDebbieDee]

4. Let's hope Mueller knows how to keep

His pants on and his hands to himself...

[Hortensis]

9. This.

I also have never picked up on inappropriateness in Keeler's broadcasts, and I think I would.

[Orsino]

6. Yeah, it was a quiet week in Lake Wobegon. Too quiet. n/t

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

11. Ha!

Thank you.

[ornotna]

10. Will wait for the story to be told

After emailing the AP to say he was fired, Keillor told the wire service that he was fired over "a story that I think is more interesting and more complicated than the version MPR heard."

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2017/11/29/garrison-keillor-says-mpr-fired-over-alleged-improper-behavior

[octoberlib]

13. Details so far have been sketchy.

[BannonsLiver]

16. Still waiting for a conservative to find their way to the gallows post Weinstein

Not a one so far, unless you count Halperin. I guess we’re supposed to believe they don’t harass women.

[RhodeIslandOne]

18. I'd count Lauer

But oh wait, he worked for NBC and is therefore liberal, no matter how well he blew Trump.

[eleny]

30. Lol!

[B2G]

33. There have been conservatives as well.

Bill O'Reilly
Eric Bolling
Wesley Goodman
Jeff Hoover
Jim Friedrich
Tony Cornish

To name a few.

[BannonsLiver]

37. Key words, post Weinsten

But what a surprise you're here to set the record straight.

[B2G]

58. Weinstein - October

Wesley Goodman - November
Jeff Hoover - November
Tony Cornish - November

[LanternWaste]

52. Reading for comprehension is almost as difficult as running a marathon

Reading for comprehension is almost as difficult as running a marathon without a band-aid to cover up critical, blood-soaked orifices washing the pavement in effluvia and necrotic tissue causing death to many, it appears...

[B2G]

63. In reading through that 2 year old thread,

it amuses me that suggesting black running tights is the comment you choose to take exception with.

[octoberlib]

19. More info

In an email to the Star Tribune Wednesday, Keillor said, “I put my hand on a woman’s bare back. I meant to pat her back after she told me about her unhappiness and her shirt was open and my hand went up it about six inches. She recoiled. I apologized. I sent her an email of apology later and she replied that she had forgiven me and not to think about it. We were friends. We continued to be friendly right up until her lawyer called.”

Keillor even managed a joke of sorts: “Getting fired is a real distinction in broadcasting and I’ve waited fifty years for the honor. All of my heroes got fired. I only wish it could’ve been for something more heroic.”


Then he turned more serious: “Anyone who ever was around my show can tell you that I was the least physically affectionate person in the building. Actors hug, musicians hug, people were embracing every Saturday night left and right, and I stood off in the corner like a stone statue.

“If I had a dollar for every woman who asked to take a selfie with me and who slipped an arm around me and let it drift down below the beltline, I’d have at least a hundred dollars. So this is poetic irony of a high order. But I’m just fine. I had a good long run and am grateful for it and for everything else.”


http://www.startribune.com/garrison-keillor-reportedly-fired-for-improper-behavior/460802703/?section=%2F#1

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

21. That's IT???

I guess MPR is trying to avoid a lawsuit. I've met Keillor and his demeanor was exactly as he described - very reserved, almost shy; definitely not a "hugger." Sounds like his "friend" might be looking for a few bucks from MPR.

[Solomon]

26. That's why I hate when people want to use the fact that there was a settlement. Lots of times you

are not in control of the settlement. The insurance company will often settle even if you don't want to. It's their money being paid out so they get to control the risk.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

29. Exactly. When there's insurance you're just along for the ride.

The deal with most insurance policies is that if the insurer accepts your defense, they decide whether and for how much to settle.

[LAS14]

69. Good point. Something to remember.

[uponit7771]

28. I think the company is making a mistake if this is it, this is a very bad move for them

[gollygee]

32. They had a law firm do an investigation

If that was all there was, is seems like that would have become clear in the investigation.

[BeyondGeography]

72. Well, good

If that’s it, I can still love Garrison Keillor unconditionally. He added a lot of soul to a country that can be pretty damned soulless.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

24. Any left-leaning male had better watch their back....

especially those in the public spotlight that employ or work with RW females.

My suspicion is that the RW social media is pushing a narrative that encourages any woman that's even had a suspicious handshake to come forward with an accusation. As we're seeing, it only takes a suggestion of guilt for damage to be done.

Even though some of the current allegations may be true, it seems far too coincidental that most are against left-leaning public figures for me to believe this series of events is not being orchestrated in some way.

As others have said, if this goes much deeper into our general society, many men will become afraid to work with, be seen alone with, or touch in any way any female they are not married to.

[Old Vet]

31. Ive met this man, For the life of me I just cant put my arms around these accusations........

[gollygee]

35. Men who do stuff like this are often

Very different around men than women. A law firm did an investigation and we will probably head more about that at some point.

[LisaM]

34. Why would Minnesota Public Radio make such a knee-jerk reaction?

I find that really odd and unsettling.

[gollygee]

36. They hired a law firm to do an investigation

They fired him after the investigation, so it wasn't a knee reaction.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

39. There's been quite a bit of knee-jerking going on lately

and I'm sure MPR didn't want to be held out as an organization that employed someone who touched someone's back and immediately apologized.

[LisaM]

40. I don't know......

He was their cash cow for four decades and they do an investigation based on - what? Two allegations of a hand in the wrong place? - and then try to wipe him off the map?

I have never gotten a weird vibe from him (or Al Franken, for that matter). Who did I get a weird vibe from? Woody Allen. And I've detested Matt Lauer for a while because I think he sneers at women and has done his best to harm many of them professionally. Trump combines the worst of both of them, IMHO.

But I'm just going to hold off on judging Al Franken and Garrison Keillor, because I think we're beginning to compare apples and oranges here.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

43. He isn't MPR's cash cow any more; he retired.

The only thing he still does for them is Writer's Almanac, a very short bit. So they have nothing to lose by hanging him out to dry, but it goes along with the latest trend of firing everybody whether they deserve it or not. MPR is supported to a considerable extent by its members, and maybe they were afraid they'd lose out on donations and memberships if they didn't fire him from WA, a small and obscure show. I really don't think they'd have fired him from PHC if he hadn't already retired because that would have cost them a whole lot of memberships.

[LisaM]

46. I like Writer's Almanac.

I also don't think Minnesota liberals are the real problem in this country, and I'm very perturbed at how things are being twisted to act as if they are.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

47. Isn't it interesting that this allegation came out the day after

Keillor wrote a column supporting Al Franken?

[LisaM]

49. Yes. n/t

[gollygee]

70. Let's see. Your vibe vs. a paid investigation by a law firm.

[LisaM]

71. I said I'd wait.

They may have good evidence, and if so, I'll believe it, but right now we're low on specifics. It also strikes me that Garrison Keillor is not one to consistently shove older women out of the way to work with younger women, the way both Matt Lauer and Woody Allen did. When he did the PHC movie, he worked with Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin.

I just said I don't know. I need to know more.

[no_hypocrisy]

56. I'm more convinced than ever that there's a list of liberals, progressives, democrats

and they're being targeted every few days.

Garrison Keillor is accused of touching a woman's back. Not her breast. Not her derriere. Not her leg. Her back.

He apologized when he saw that she recoiled. She accepted the apology.

[Loki Liesmith]

57. I did dance with the devil. I saw him. I wrote in his book.

[infullview]

59. I think this is BS

I don't like it, I don't think it's fair, there should be exposition of some truly egregious act to back this action up. There. I've said what I wanted to say and I don't particularly care about anyone's replies to my post.

[Frustratedlady]

60. Garrison is the last person I'd suspect as being on the list of those guilty of improper behavior.

I've listened to him for years and have never heard anything improper said by him. His humor is certainly dry and he probably gets by with a lot of innuendo, but that's part of his act. Good grief!

So sorry to hear this and I will always believe someone jumped the gun on firing him.

[Orange Free State]

62. Hate to be cynical, but.....

....all these accusations could be an attempt to dilute the impact of accusations of Trump. There will be a point soon where the country will be numb and no one will listen to the next sexual harassment story.
There could also be some opportunism, an excuse to void the expensive contract of someone who no longer appeals to a young audience.
With the present atmosphere, I no longer talk to women unless necessary, politely but with no familiarity at all. If shopping I try to buy from a male clerk. I would not be alone with a woman other than my wife or sister. I think that one is called the Billy Graham rule. The cost of any accusation is just too high.

Once again, hate to be cynical, but....I am.