ESPN’s Keith Olbermann has apologized “unreservedly” to a Mississippi wild turkey hunter who had bagged a rare white gobbler for a critical tweet in which Olbermann called the hunter “a pea-brained scumbag” and added that “we should do our best to make sure the rest of his life is a living hell.”
Olbermann, in a tweet Wednesday night, acknowledged that he had crossed the line. “I am an opponent of trophy hunting and remain so,” he wrote, “but nobody should feel threatened. This was anything but my intent, so I unreservedly apologize to Mr. (Hunter) Waltman for this tweet.”
Olbermann’s original tweet came Tuesday in reaction to a Clarion Ledger story by Brian Broom about the rare accomplishment and was removed by Twitter for being in violation of its rules for users. “It be rare and beautiful so me (sic) should kill it,” Olbermann wrote (via the Clarion Ledger). “This pea-brained scumbag identifies himself as Hunter Waltman and we should do our best to make sure the rest of his life is a living hell. And the nitwit clown who wrote this fawning piece should be fired.”
ESPN, in a statement, said, “We have spoken to him about not making personal attacks.”
Waltman, a 22-year-old from Kiln, said he had didn’t know who the ESPN and former MSNBC commentator was until he tweeted to his 1.1 million followers about Waltman. “I didn’t like the idea of that too much,” Waltman told the Clarion Ledger. “I don’t think a lot of people would like to be called out on social media like that, especially (by someone) with so many followers. They text me all kinds of stuff. If he (Olbermann) hadn’t done that, none of this would have happened.”
Waltman, who said he’d “be glad” if Olbermann were fired for going “overboard,” found a great deal of support on Twitter, where one user whose bio says he’s from Pass Christian, Miss., wrote that Waltman “is not just a ‘trophy hunter.’ He and his family use “hunting to subsidize their freezer. You should’ve never threatened him and you definitely shouldn’t have encouraged others to do so. That, sir, is reckless!”
Another from Dedeaux, Miss., wrote: “I personally know Mr. Hunter Waltman and that ‘pea-brained scumbag’ is one of the best guys I’ve ever met! You can’t judge someone for a tradition they have been doing for years! We can’t help we were raised different. Looks like you were raised ignorant.”
Broom’s story noted that the turkey Waltman bagged may be “among the most unusual ever taken” in the state. “I’ve been having him on camera all year since back in October,” Waltman said. “My neighbor told me about him. When I bought the property, he said he’d seen a white gobbler out there before. He’s been hanging around for three years.”
The bird, with solid white plumage, spurs and nails, had a black beard and eyes the typical color of a turkey’s. Since that seemed to rule out full albinism, it appears to have been just an “anomaly,” Broom wrote. “Man, it was awesome,” Waltman told Broom. “I was shaking I was so nervous. It was one of the hardest turkeys I’ve ever killed.”
A Louisiana taxidermist declared the bird “100 percent wild turkey,” Waltman said, addressing criticism on social media that the turkey was a pet or livestock like one sees on turkey farms.
“The naked head and neck do not appear to be as ornate as one would expect in a domestic turkey gobbler,” Bob Eriksen, a certified wildlife biologist and Natural Resources Conservation Service technical service provider, told Broom. “Even in a first-generation cross between an eastern wild turkey and a domestic bird there would be evidence of domestic traits such as a very large, ornate head and neck and an excessively large dewlap. In addition a F1 would exhibit short lower legs that would be heavier than those of a wild eastern.”