MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell had a massive meltdown while filming his MSNBC show, newly leaked outtake footage revealed Wednesday.
Mediaite obtained eight minutes of footage of the host of "The Last Word" during the taping of the August 29 taping of his show. The footage seems to capture O'Donnell growing increasingly frustrated with audio interference on his ear piece.
"What's going on? why am I losing this? why don't I have sound?" O'Donnell asked. "Who's asking for a Labor Day rundown in my ear?"
"God damnit!" O'Donnell continued, slamming his fist on the desk.
O'Donnell kept his cool through the next segment, before angrily informing the crew that "There’s insanity in the control room tonight."
"You have insanity in my earpiece," he said. "Fuckin—"
But what really drove O'Donnell up the wall is the sound of hammering in the studio.
"Stop the hammering! Stop the hammering out there! O'Donnell yelled. "Who's got a hammer?! Where is it?! Where's the hammer?!"
O'Donnell's crew can be heard trying to tell him in vain that it wasn't someone in their particular studio, which does not seem to calm him down.
"Go up on the other floor! Somebody go up there and stop the hammering! Stop the hammering! I'll go down to the goddamned floor myself and stop it, keep the goddamned commercial break going!" O'Donnell ranted.
"Call fucking Phil Griffin! I don't care who you have to call! Stop the hammering!" O'Donnell yelled, invoking MSNBC president Phil Griffin. "Empty out the goddamned control room and find out where this is going on!"
In the final segment of video, O'Donnell seems to sink further into despair over the quality of editing.
"Jesus Christ," O'Donnell said. "Crazy fucking sound coming in my ear, this fucking stupid hammering."
"It just fucking sucks. It fucking sucks to be out here with this out of control shit," he said.
O'Donnell's continuing at MSNBC had been an open question up to the beginning of June, with a possible departure driven by animosity between O'Donnell and NBC News Chairman Andy Lack. But O'Donnell expects to stay with MSNBC "for the next couple of years," he eventually announced.