On Friday's NBC Today, co-host Matt Lauer confirmed that he had renewed his contract with network, prompting applause from his fellow hosts and this zinger from weatherman Al Roker about Lauer's potential replacement: "Yeah, because it was either you or Keith Olbermann." The entire studio erupted in laughter. [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]
Lauer quipped in response: "You made out alright, didn't you?" Ann Curry referred to Olbermann suing his former employer, Current TV: "Yeah, and our bosses don't want to be sued." A relieved Roker proclaimed "Thank goodness!" and rounded out the mocking of the left-wing bomb-thrower by doing his best Olbermann impression: "You're the worst person in the world!"
Minutes earlier, fill-in news anchor Savannah Guthrie provided an update on Olbermann's firing:
One week after being fired from his hosting job at Current TV, Keith Olbermann is taking his former employer to court. He is suing the network for more than $50 million in a breach-of-contract lawsuit, and blasting the company for what he calls were "shoddy production values." Well, Current fired back, saying that Olbermann was let go for missing work, quote, "sabotaging the network, and disparaging his bosses."
Olbermann would certainly know something about being part of a "shoddy production" given his mile-long list of offensive remarks that include frequently comparing conservatives to terrorists and Nazis.