MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell apologizes for off-air rant

NEW YORK (AP) – MSNBC anchor Lawrence O’Donnell has apologized after clips surfaced of him profanely yelling at staffers in between segments of his prime-time program.

The clips from O’Donnell’s Aug. 29 show were published online by Mediaite on Wednesday. They show O’Donnell angrily reacting over the wrong sound being fed into his earpiece. He also demands someone put an end to hammering near the studio, calling on staffers to call MSNBC president Phil Griffin, if necessary.

O’Donnell’s rant quickly became fodder for memes on social media. One widely-shared video spliced up O’Donnell’s comments about the hammering with the music video for M.C. Hammer’s “U Can’t Touch This.”

O’Donnell was contrite in a Twitter post Wednesday night, writing: “A better anchorman and a better person would’ve had a better reaction to technical difficulties. I’m sorry.”