The Lawrence O’Donnell leak has led to the firing of a “Today” show editor who allegedly leaked a video of the meltdown.
An internal investigation revealed the culprit responsible for leaking embarrassing footage of O’Donnell losing his temper in the now infamous profanity-laced meltdown in August, The Daily Mail reported.
The New York Post’s Page Six said “multiple sources” confirmed that a male editor of “Today” has since been confronted about the leak and was dismissed on Sept. 26.
One of the sources said the editor, whose name has not been revealed, “did it because he thought it was funny. But it wasn’t exactly the perfect crime — he left a very clear trail,” according to Page Six.
Sources closely connected with the leak explained that a broadcast-quality digital clip of the incident had been slipped to the website, Mediaite. Only a handful of people have access to such files, and the leaker reportedly left a digital trail that led NBC execs straight to him.
The leaked video clip showed O'Donnell ranting at staff in outtakes of "The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell.”
After complaining about an earpiece malfunction, the anchor then started complaining about noise in the control and finally a repeated "hammering" sound. Even the name of MSNBC president Phil Griffin was invoked in the rant.
"Stop the hammering," O'Donnell said in the clip. "I'll go down to the g******* floor myself and stop it. Keep the g******* commercial break going. Call f***ing Phil Griffin, I don't care who the f*** you have to call. Stop the hammering. Empty out the g******** control room and find out what's going on.
"F****** out of control s***. It just f****** sucks, it f****** sucks to be out here with this out-of-control s***. Any f****** thing can come into my ear, at any moment. That's what I know," O'Donnell continued.
The video went viral and immediately sparked mockery, prompting O’Donnell to release an apology via Twitter.
“A better anchorman and a better person would've had a better reaction to technical difficulties. I'm sorry,” he posted.
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