THIS is how you burn a bridge.
A copy of Keith's complaint is embedded in the link - it really is worth a read. If I had to guess, I would say that Keith himself composed the factual background listed at the beginning of the complaint, as well as the General Allegations section; they are downright seething, but with a touch of humor too (spoiler alert: there is an Al Gore internet joke in the complaint!).
Current has a fairly funny press release in response to Keith's lawsuit:
Current terminated Keith Olbermann last Thursday for serial, material breaches of his contract, including the failure to show up at work, sabotaging the network and attacking Current and its executives.
As the old adage says: "When the law is on your side, you argue the law. When the facts are on your side, you argue the facts. When neither the law nor the facts are on your side, you pound the table."
We will be happy to engage on the law and the facts in the appropriate forum.
It is well established that over his professional career Mr. Olbermann has specialized in pounding the table.
However, Mr. Olbermann, by filing his false and malicious lawsuit, has now put this matter into a legal process where there will be an objective review of the facts.
We hope Mr. Olbermann understands that when it comes to the legal process, he is actually required to show up.
I don't like that two liberal media icons are duking it out, but at least there is some entertainment value here. And fwiw, I agree with Keith's complaint, at least about the absolutely horrid job Current did of producing Countdown. A lot of the time it looked like Current had kidnapped the local junior high A/V club to produce the show; it was, quite frankly, embarrassing, not just for Keith (I'm sure), but for the liberal cause, in my opinion. It was like "this is the best you can do? You're going to challenge not only MSNBC but, more importantly, Fox News with this tenth-rate production value?" I honestly quit watching the show because the snafus were so constant.
As for Keith, one can only surmise that his time on American television has come to an end, unless there is another channel of which I am unaware that will hire him. And I think that's a damn shame - I think Keith has been incredibly important over the last decade or so; he was really the first major media figure on American TV to challenge Bush and the ascendant right-wing head-on in the early part of the last decade, and I like to think he was at the forefront (or close to it) of the liberal resurgence that culminated in 2006 and 2008.
I hope Keith lands somewhere on TV, or failing that, radio. In my opinion, he provides a necessary voice in our mostly dog shit discourse.