Raul Grijalva and Gabby Giffords. In response, MSNBC President Phil Griffin suspended Olbermann indefinitely without pay on November 5 for violating a network policy regarding political contributions which required prior approval from management. An online petition calling for his reinstatement received over 250,000 signatures, and two days after the suspension began, Griffin announced that Olbermann would return to the air starting with the November 9 program. On the January 21, 2011, episode of Countdown, Olbermann abruptly announced that the show would be his final MSNBC broadcast. Olbermann thanked viewers, producers, and technical staff for his show's eight-year success. However, he did not thank Griffin or NBC News president Steve Capus. Neither MSNBC nor Olbermann divulged the reason for his departure. Many liberal bloggers and commentators blamed the cable operator Comcast for Olbermann's firing, accusing the company of silencing the host for political purposes just days after Comcast acquired NBC Universal on January 18. Statements from MSNBC and Comcast denied this allegation. Media critic Howard Kurtz, former MSNBC anchor David Shuster, and an anonymous NBC News executive said that Olbermann's 2010 suspension was a more likely precipitating factor in Countdown cancellation. In subsequent interviews, Olbermann went into greater detail about the circumstances surrounding his exit from MSNBC. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter published on June 7, 2011, Olbermann said he had faced increasing opposition from network management after the death of Tim Russert in June, 2008; Russert, the NBC Washington news bureau chief and moderator of Meet the Press, had been Olbermann's advocate and a peacemaker at the network. Olbermann further stated that "there were lots of people who were forced to choose sides" over his presence at MSNBC, including Maddow. Olbermann further claimed that he was not informed of his dismissal from MSNBC until less than a half-hour before his on-air farewell. However, Olbermann's 2012 breach-of-contract lawsuit against Current TV indicated that Olbermann had been moved to leave MSNBC by Current founders Al Gore and Joel Hyatt. The lawsuit alleged that Gore and Hyatt had attempted to court Olbermann, despite being informed that he had two years remaining on his MSNBC contract, and reached an agreement for him to join the network the same month as his departure from MSNBC, according to court documents acquired by Warner Bros.-owned TMZ. Current TV period On February 8, Olbermann announced that he had been hired as the host of a new