Garrison Keillor, the folksy former host and creator of “A Prairie Home Companion,” has been fired by Minnesota Public Radio over “allegations of his inappropriate behavior with an individual who worked with him.”
“Garrison Keillor has been an important part of the growth and success of MPR, and all of us in the MPR community are saddened by these circumstances,” MPR president Jon McTaggart said Wednesday.
“While we appreciate the contributions Garrison has made to MPR and to all of public radio, we believe this decision is the right thing to do and is necessary to continue to earn the trust of our audiences, employees and supporters of our public service.”
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MPR has hired an outside lawyer “to conduct an independent investigation of the allegations,” the public radio station said in statement.
“Based on what we currently know, there are no similar allegations involving other staff,” it said.
Keillor, 75, told the Associated Press he was fired over “a story that I think is more interesting and more complicated than the version MPR heard.” But he did not release any details.
A humorist and radio personality famous for his dispatches from the fictional Minnesota town of Lake Wobegon, Keillor is the latest celebrity to be publicly accused of misconduct while on the job.
In addition, MPR is severing its “business relationships with Mr. Keillor’s media companies effective immediately” and ending distribution and broadcast of “The Writer’s Almanac” and rebroadcasts of “The Best of A Prairie Home Companion hosted by Garrison Keillor.”
The news of Keillor’s ouster came just hours after NBC News fired “Today” anchor Matt Lauer after a complaint about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace that took place during the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
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