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NBC Fires ‘Today’ Editor Who Leaked Lawrence O’Donnell Video Freakout

Ian Miles Cheong Contributor
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NBC has tracked down and fired the person responsible for leaking Lawrence O’Donnell’s behind-the-scenes meltdown on the MSNBC show, “The Last Word.”

Illusions of O’Donnell’s calm and cool demeanor were shattered following the leak, in which he flew into a rage at studio staffers for a multitude of reasons. The eight-minute long clip, first obtained by Mediaite, saw him ranting about voices in his earpiece and hammering next door—none of which was audible to anyone but him.

He can be seen yelling “stop the hammering!” and blames the producers for not properly managing his production.

A portion of the clip even shows a maddened O’Donnell slamming his fists on the table while making a face. It went viral on social media.

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According to multiple sources who spoke to Page Six, a male editor was found to be the individual responsible for leaking the video of O’Donnell’s rage-out at his staff during breaks in an August 29 broadcast of his show, “The Last Word.”

A source told the publication that, “the leaker was identified, confronted and fired on Sept. 26. It turned out to be a ‘Today’ show editor who said he did it because he thought it was funny. But it wasn’t exactly the perfect crime — he left a very clear trail.”

Other sources said that there were only a handful of people who could’ve had access to the clip that was slipped to Mediaite, making it easy for the company to narrow down the person responsible.

O’Donnell, who apologized on social media for his original outburst, has not commented on the firing of the employee.