MSNBC star Lawrence O'Donnell has epic meltdown at staff in leaked video
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell launched into profanity-laced tirades at his staff during a taping of his show last month, complaining about "insanity in my earpiece" and begging someone to "stop the hammering!"
O'Donnell's tirades were first reported by Mediaite, which posted a stitched-together video of the outbursts that lasted more than eight minutes Wednesday. The site reported that the video was recorded during the taping of the Aug. 29 edition of "The Last Word."
WARNING: THIS VIDEO CONTAINS OBSCENE LANGUAGE. PARENTS STRONGLY CAUTIONED
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Initially, O'Donnell complains that he can't hear audio in his earpiece during a report on President Trump's trip to Texas in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.
"Someone in that control room is out of control," he says, before adding, "F---. G-- d--n it."
As the problems persist, O'Donnell becomes visibly enraged, banging his fists on the desk and repeating "G-d d--n it" and "F--k."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Every time we go to a [clip], there’s a woman talking in my ear about something that has nothing to do with what we’re doing here," he complains at one point.
But O'Donnell finally loses control over a hammering sound that can be heard in the background of the video.
"STOP THE HAMMERING!" he screams. "STOP THE HAMMERING OUT THERE! WHO’S GOT A HAMMER? WHERE IS IT? WHERE’S THE HAMMER?"
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I’LL GO DOWN TO THE G------ED FLOOR MYSELF AND STOP IT," O'Donnell vows. "KEEP THE G------ED COMMERCIAL BREAK GOING!
"CALL F---ING [MSNBC President] PHIL GRIFFIN! I DON’T CARE WHO THE F--- YOU HAVE TO CALL!" he adds. "STOP THE HAMMERING. EMPTY OUT THE G------ED CONTROL ROOM AND FIND OUT WHERE THIS IS GOING ON!"
Later in the show, a slightly more subdued O'Donnell complains to his staff about the editing of a video clip.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I told you why I wanted those f---ing words cut," he says to an unknown producer before adding. "It just f---ing sucks. It f---ing sucks to be out here with this out of control s---."
Hours after the video surfaced, he tweeted: "A better anchorman and a better person would've had a better reaction to technical difficulties. I'm sorry."
MSNBC declined to comment on the video. O'Donnell has hosted "The Last Word" since September 2010.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox News' Brian Flood contributed to this report.