MSNBC Footage Leaked Showing Frustrated Lawrence O’Donnell On-Set

On Wednesday afternoon, the website Mediaite published a video clip showing outtakes from a late August broadcast of Lawrence O’Donnell’s MSNBC show, The Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell.

In the video clip, which was seemingly leaked to Mediaite by someone with access to the network’s production process, O’Donnell expresses frustration with the actions of the control room and with a hammering sound that distracts him. 

“Stop the hammering!” O’Donnell shouts. “I’ll go down to the goddamned floor myself and stop it! Keep the goddamned commercial break going. Call fucking [MSNBC president Phil Griffin], I don’t care who the fuck you have to call. Stop the hammering! Empty out the goddamned control room and find out where this is going on!”

At another moment, the veteran news anchor slams down a pen in frustration, and says, “It just fucking sucks, it fucking sucks to be out here with this out-of-control shit. Any fucking thing can come into my ear, at any moment. That’s what I know.”

MSNBC has not yet responded to questions about the video, but O’Donnell tweeted his apologies for the outburst on Twitter later on Wednesday. “A better anchorman and a better person would’ve had a better reaction to technical difficulties. I’m sorry,” O’Donnell wrote.

In late May, O’Donnell finalized a new contract to remain at MSNBC after his current deal was set to expire. Along with Rachel Maddow, O’Donnell has seen his ratings rise this year in the 10 p.m. ET hour as he’s kept the focus of his show on fallout from Russian hacking during the 2016 election. 

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