Veteran U.S. radio host Garrison Keillor, creator of the folksy show “A Prairie Home Companion,” has been fired over an accusation of inappropriate behavior, Minnesota Public Radio said on Wednesday.
“Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) is terminating its contracts with Garrison Keillor and his private media companies after recently learning of allegations of his inappropriate behavior with an individual who worked with him,” the organization said in a statement. It gave no details.
David O’Neill, a representative of Keillor, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Associated Press reported that Keillor said in an email he was fired over “a story that I think is more interesting and more complicated than the version MPR heard,” but he gave no details.
Reuters was not able to independently confirm the allegations.
Keillor, 75, an author and humorist, is best known as the creator of “A Prairie Home Companion,” which he hosted from 1974 to 2016.
MPR said it would end rebroadcasts of “The Best of A Prairie Home Companion,” hosted by Keillor, as well as distribution and broadcast of his show “The Writer’s Almanac.”
It said the allegation relates to Keillor’s time as a producer of “A Prairie Home Companion.” MPR was notified last month and retained an outside law firm to conduct an independent investigation.
“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,” Jon McTaggart, president of MPR, said in the statement. {eoa}
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