More Allegations Come Out Against Keillor

Originally it was reported, by Minnesota Public Radio, that its relationship with Garrison Keillor was abruptly ended because of “inappropriate behavior” with one female colleague. Keillor played down that allegation by saying it was nothing more than placing his hand on a woman’s back to console her. A new MPR investigation details alleged years of bad behavior that left several women who worked for Keillor feeling mistreated, sexualized or belittled.

Here are several of the new allegations against the former host of A Prarie Home Companion as reported by MPR:

• In 2009, a subordinate who was romantically involved with Keillor received a check for $16,000 from his production company and was asked to sign a confidentiality agreement which, among other things, barred her from ever divulging personal or confidential details about him or his companies. She declined to sign the agreement, and never cashed the check.
• In 2012, Keillor wrote and publicly posted in his bookstore an off-color limerick about a young woman who worked there and the effect she had on his state of arousal.
• A producer fired from The Writer’s Almanac in 1998 sued MPR, alleging age and sex discrimination, saying Keillor habitually bullied and humiliated her and ultimately replaced her with a younger woman.
• A 21-year-old college student received an email in 2001 in which Keillor, then her writing instructor at the University of Minnesota, revealed his “intense attraction” to her.

MPR News says it interviewed more than 60 people who worked with or crossed professional paths with Keillor.

Keillor told MPR News he could not comment for their story but wrote in an e-mail that “I don’t think MPR News can report fairly on MPR management’s chaotic and disastrous actions. I think it would be a waste of time to engage in the he said/they said game. There are facts here that need to be respected. I’ll be able to tell my side of the story at length, in my own words, in due course, and that’s sufficient for me.”

MPR CEO Jon McTaggart broke his silence on Tuesday telling MPR News the relationship ended after “dozens” of sexually inappropriate incidents involving Keillor and a woman who worked for him on A Prairie Home Companion. He said the allegations included requests for sexual contact and descriptions of unwanted sexual touching. “When we reached a point that from all sources we had sufficient confidence in facts that really required us to act, we took the action we did. It was the right thing to do. It was the necessary thing to do, and we stand by it.”

MPR retained an outside law firm to conduct an independent investigation of the allegations.

In emails to MPR News, Keillor also claimed that Minnesota Public Radio’s decision to sever ties with his companies resulted from an extortion scheme by an ex-employee. He suggested that the person had been fired and rebuffed in his demand for a generous severance payment, then solicited a former Prairie Home colleague to allege inappropriate behavior.

McTaggart rejected that argument. “I certainly don’t accept the premise of extortion or blackmail. That has nothing to do with this. What it has everything to do with, McTaggart is power. We hold our leaders and people in power to a really high standard. Leaders and people in power determine livelihood. We determine your career, whether you have a job or don’t have a job, what your compensation is going to be. And there’s a pretty clear set of policies that have guided our decision-making about what’s appropriate.”