Minnesota Public Radio Drops Garrison Keillor Over Allegations of Improper Conduct
Minnesota Public Radio said Wednesday that it was severing all business ties with Garrison Keillor, the creator
and retired host of “A Prairie Home Companion,” after allegations of “inappropriate behavior with an individual who worked with him.”
Over four decades, Mr. Keillor, 75, had created a financial juggernaut for the radio network with his weekly broadcast of songs, skits
and tales of his fictional hometown Lake Wobegon, along with related books, recordings and other products.
Effective immediately, MPR said, it will no longer distribute
and broadcast Mr. Keillor’s remaining programs, “The Writer’s Almanac” and “The Best of A Prairie Home Companion Hosted by Garrison Keillor.”
It will also change the name of American Public Media’s current incarnation of the show, which Chris Thile, a songwriter
and mandolinist, took over in October 2016, after Mr. Keillor stepped down.
P.R., and 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.” The network did not elaborate on what it called Mr. Keillor’s “inappropriate behavior.”
Later on Wednesday, The Star Tribune of Minneapolis published an email from Mr. Keillor in response
to a reporter’s questions, giving his version of an encounter with an unidentified woman.