Garrison Keillor Isn’t Dead, But He Is Fired

The long time Minnesota Public Radio Upper Midwest chuckler and all around autistic storyteller host of the Prairie Home Companion, Garrison Keillor, was fired from MPR following an investigation into an undisclosed matter of past inappropriate behavior. The only detail released is that the matter involved a single complainant. No word yet on whether the 75-year old yarn spinner and old-fashioned radio variety show host was firing off titty twisters around the office like Matt Lauer.

Keillor is fairly ancient and perpetually low key if not spectrum indifferent, so he responded to the firing by basically saying, the charge is complicated at best, but he’s too tired to make it a thing:

“It’s some sort of poetic irony to be knocked off the air by a story, having told so many of them myself, but I’m 75 and don’t have any interest in arguing about this. And I cannot in conscience bring danger to a great organization I’ve worked hard for since 1969.”

That’s a fairly solid denial non-denial. A passive aggressive approach to being swept up in the current round of entertainment personalities being shit-canned for harassment past and paster.

Somewhat ironically, Keillor had recently written a column defending Minnesota Senator Al Franken, claiming it’s unfair to judge people for offenses of yesteryear based on 2017 suddenly found mores. It’s possible at the time of the article, he knew he was being background checked by MPR for an old complaint.

Every media and entertainment outlet out there is now conducting cover-your-ass reviews of previously ignored sexual harassment filings, especially against their big names. Expect more icons to follow, young and old.

There’s an argument to be made that none of this harassment hunt comes about without a Trump victory in 2016. That set off a chain reaction of fired up journalists and activists digging into the pasts of powerful famous men, which combined with a blood-hungry feminist zeitgeist, created the momentum needed to topple the lesser kings. Had Hillary Clinton been President, it would have been declared the Year of the Woman and those same women would have been marched into docile formation for another quadrennial so as not to make waves with powerful Clinton donors. Take that for what it’s worth.

Garrison Keiller, you shall be missed. Like a man misses network primetime programming in the age of unlimited digital and premium programming a million times superior.

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