What were the allegations against Garrison Keillor? #MeToo accusations explored as author opens up about past

Garrison Keillor has not been slowed by his 2016 retirement from the Prairie Home Companion or a scandal the following year that saw Minnesota Public Radio sever ties with the radio host amid allegations of sexual misconduct.

Owing to two new books (Serenity at 70, Gaiety at 80: Why You Should Keep On Getting Older and Boom Town: a Lake Wobegon), a set of upcoming shows, and an interview on CBS Sunday Morning News in which he reflects on being called out during the #MeToo movement, the humorist is back in the limelight.

Keillor said:

"#MeToo was a very noble undertaking to fight bullies, there are bullies and I'm in favor of fighting them — I'm not one myself."

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What was Garrison Keillor accused of?

After a female colleague accused the married writer and radio host of s*xually improper behavior, Keillor was sacked by MPR.

Keillor emailed a researcher and he mentioned vivid s*xual dreams with the researcher. It is inappropriate not just because of the professional setting of a workplace, but also because she described Garrison Keillor as a "mentor and boss" with "control" over her.

Keillor claimed in his interview that he and the woman had a "mutual flirtation" and "friendship" that was only judged problematic because "the culture shifted."

In 1998, a producer sacked from The Writer's Almanac had sued MPR, alleging age and sex discrimination, claiming that Keillor tormented and humiliated her regularly and eventually replaced her with a younger woman.

Patricia McFadden, then 41, claimed that MPR fired her at Keillor's request and falsely stated that her firing was due to "restructuring," and replacing her with a younger woman.

Garrison Keillor said:

"There was no kissing, there was no hugging — it was a sort of flirtation that thousands of people did before me, and I hope they take my case as a warning that you should not"

Keillor has previously blamed his firing on touching a woman's bare back as he tried to console her.

"You shouldn't be friends with a female colleague — it's dangerous. You should never put your hand on a female colleague, ever — it's dangerous."

MPR and Keillor were crucial to one another's success, but Keillor hasn't worked for MPR since 2002. MPR signed a deal with Keillor's firm, Prairie Grand, to produce his shows at that time.

Garrison said that he "would have been grateful" if he'd been confronted in person about "the effect" his s*xual references and unwanted touching were having. When pressed by Mason as to whether he "crossed the line," he suggests that he didn't do anything that others haven't.

Garrison described signing a confidentiality agreement as a "terrible, terrible mistake," adding that "no one should ever sign away their right to tell their side of the story."

For his part, Keillor appears to believe that he has done nothing to deserve the sacking, despite the many testimonies against his problematic behavior.