Tragic Details Of MSNBC Host Lawrence O'Donnell

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Working in media can sometimes be accompanied by fame, but that also opens one up to a boatload of criticism. MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell is no exception. He once revealed how his childhood was affected by the Vietnam War and would later make headlines with an interview because of his personal history with it. In his book, "Playing with Fire," he recalled how his older brothers couldn't afford to dream about their careers after high school. "They only talked about how to deal with the draft and Vietnam," O'Donnell wrote. Tragically, the war would later affect the MSNBC host directly as his cousin John never made it back home. In his book, O'Donnell likened the 2016 presidential election to those years when the Vietnam War was in full swing.

O'Donnell is a staunch Trump critic, and while he often calls out the president on the airwaves, he's sparred with other politicians as well. Back in 2011, Herman Cain threw his hat into the ring to win the Republican presidential nomination. He didn't make it, but before he exited the race, O'Donnell questioned him extensively about how he managed not to serve as a soldier in the Vietnam War, insinuating that Cain had actively tried to avoid being drafted. The then-presidential hopeful explained to O'Donnell that he worked in exterior ballistics and was considered too valuable to be put in the field. The MSNBC host criticized Cain, so much so that The Atlantic published a scathing piece reprimanding the news anchor for his conduct during the interview. O'Donnell made things personal, but then again, the war had affected him personally.

O'Donnell has had the fortune to continue ruffling feathers ever since, but his outlook on his job and life changed drastically after he had a brush with death in 2014.

We all have defining moments in our lives. For Lawrence O'Donnell, the shadow of the Vietnam War hung over his childhood. And in adulthood, he was severely injured in a serious car accident. Luckily for the MSNBC host, he didn't land on the list of tragic celebrity deaths, but the accident has stayed with him.

O'Donnell was traveling with his brother, Michael, when the accident happened. He recalled the crash in vivid detail to The Daily Beast, saying it felt like the crash was happening in slow motion. A drunk driver going above the speed limit slammed into O'Donnell's taxi after swerving out of his lane. "I was just overwhelmed by the noise of this crash, and all I could see was the light of the radio in the center of the dashboard, that was coming closer and closer—because the vehicle was getting crushed. It seemed like it was going on forever," he recounted. In those horrifying moments, O'Donnell's thoughts were with his family, but he also had a moment to think, "What a stupid way to die."

O'Donnell's brother had serious injuries, including a broken femur, and while the MSNBC host, who was trapped in the car after the crash, thought he had no injuries, he'd been mistaken. He broke his hip and had several lacerations on his legs, which led to a two-week hospital stay and several sessions of physical therapy. When he finally talked about the accident on air, O'Donnell said he had a newfound appreciation for life. "That cliché, lucky to be alive, was suddenly so true to me, so profound. It was such a warm feeling," he told viewers (via Boston Irish).

After surviving a car crash, Lawrence O'Donnell found himself forever changed. Many celebs suffer from anxiety, and while O'Donnell hasn't said if he's endured the same emotional turmoil after the accident, he did admit to The Daily Beast that he lost his ability to desensitize himself from the world's pain and sorrow. "I know that anything can happen at any minute," he said. "I know it with a very intense and present sensation. It's isn't theoretical to me. It's very real."

Reading negative news reports left O'Donnell more upset than it ever had before. He simply couldn't read about tragedy without feeling like he was experiencing it himself. "I just wanted to isolate myself completely from any negative information of any kind," he confessed. "I became one of those people who I've met from time to time who say they don't watch the news. Too many bad stories. I never understood those people. Now I get them completely." The fact that O'Donnell's job required him to be in the know when it comes to news events didn't exactly help matters. In an effort to fight against the darkness, so to speak, the MSNBC host dreamed up the idea to add a segment to his show titled "And now for the good news!"

While O'Donnell's recovery was challenging, he said he received a newfound appreciation for independence — and for those who dedicate their lives to working as nurses. "For weeks, I was completely dependent on them," he explained his show (via Boston Irish). "I had only one real day and night of pain in the hospital after surgery, and it was a giant order of magnitude. ... A nurse named John Frank Ellis got me through that night."

Lawrence O'Donnell may not mince his words when taking on politicians, but underneath that steel exterior, the news anchor has shown that he experiences a profound empathy for those negatively affected by the decisions of the government. O'Donnell made headlines in September 2024 when he addressed Georgia's strict anti-abortion laws during MSNBC's "The Last Word."

The news anchor was addressing reports that two women had died in the state after being denied life-saving care because of the newly implemented strict abortion laws. One of the women needed a procedure called a dilation and curettage (D&C), in which doctors remove remaining fetal tissue from the patient's womb. Under the new law, this was no longer a legal procedure, except when the mother's life is in immediate danger. In some cases, this meant doctors could only perform the procedure once sepsis set in. And by then, it can be too late. O'Donell revealed he was 6 years old when his mother required the same life-saving care.

"My mother had given birth to five healthy children, but she kept going. She was trying ... to have a sister for her only daughter. Trying for one more. And she suffered a miscarriage, and she routinely had a D&C at a local hospital in Boston years before abortion was legal because a D&C has absolutely nothing to do with abortion," an emotional O'Donnell told viewers (via TV Insider). "If a politician interfered with that procedure and killed ... my mother when I was 6 years old, who is going to tell that boy? Who is going to tell that six-year-old how his mother died and who is really responsible?"

While Lawrence O'Donnell isn't one of the celebs who left the country after Donald Trump's win in 2024, he has been feeling the heaviness of the news cycle as much as everyone else. In fact, he decided he needed a break from work to clear his head. O'Donnell's co-host, Rachel Maddow, who is no stranger to tragic circumstances herself, vowed to diligently cover the Trump administration during its first 100 days. O'Donnell was exhausted by day 52. "I'm going to take next week off," the news anchor told Maddow on air in March 2025 (via the New York Post). "And I'm telling you that now because I know you don't like it when I just drift away. I'm just taking next week off, then I can come back and go with you all the way to the hundred days."

While Maddow was disappointed, she conceded that she didn't blame O'Donnell and applauded her co-host for putting his mental health first. Then she quipped, "Can I go with you?" O'Donnell reminded her of her pledge. "No, no, no. You said 100 days, you said 100 days. You can't. One hundred days." He then proceeded to talk about the president, telling viewers that the commander in chief's "brain does not work," adding, "Donald Trump's brain is broken, badly damaged, as he exhibits every day." O'Donnell might have been exhausted, but his ability to tear into Trump remained in tact.

It appeared that Lawrence O'Donnell was more than just mentally exhausted from the news cycle, because his one-week leave of absence turned into two, sending fans spiraling on social media. "All right. Where is [Lawrence O'Donnell]? I was away from the TV when he spoke about it and just assumed he'd be back today," one netizen posted on X. Those in the comments concurred that they'd expected the news host to be back and were baffled by his absence. "I think just two months of this administration has taken a heavy toll," another noted.

Soon, rumors that O'Donnell's show, "The Last Word," had been canceled by MSNBC ran rampant. Clearly, the media personality couldn't even take an extra week off work without making headlines. Eventually, O'Donnell took to X to put people's minds at ease. "My week off turned into 2 weeks after I picked up an infection. Expect to be back ['The Last Word'] next week," he wrote. After his unplanned extended absence from the airwaves, O'Donnell finally made his return, seemingly ready to face the chaotic news cycle once again. "It's great to be back," he assured viewers (via TV Insider), adding, "This morning was the first morning I started not in a doctor's office in the last two weeks or so. I really got used to it."

Rachel Maddow has undergone quite a transformation over the years, and she's thought to be one of the highest-paid news anchors at MSNBC. However, word on the street is that Lawrence O'Donnell isn't exactly thrilled that he's not getting the same paycheck as his colleague. These rumors made the rounds after O'Donnell took a temporary leave of absence from the network.

Sources told The Sun that O'Donnell had been trying to negotiate a better deal but the powers that be were having a hard time dishing out the cash to match his contract to Maddow's. "Lawrence has been trying to renegotiate his contract, and what he wants is what internally everyone's calling 'The Rachel Maddow Deal,'" the insider claimed, referring to when Maddow made massive changes to her talk show schedule. "That's working about one day a week and recording a podcast, which will never happen again." The source added that when Maddow first managed to negotiate this deal, things were very different and it was simply no longer possible for the network to offer the same deal to O'Donnell in the current economy. "The fact Rachel got away with it under the old regime is one of the reasons the regime changed — it was just a crazy, silly contract," the source added.

An MSNBC representative told The Sun that the anonymous source had their facts wrong; however, the network is parting ways with NBC and trying to navigate the stormy media industry solo, even axing some of its beloved hosts. If anything, O'Donnell might be at risk of losing his job. Only time will tell if the network spares him.