The long-running radio show A Prairie Home Companion has a new name after creator Garrison Keillor was fired.
Minnesota Public Radio confirmed that it will be called Live From Here, reports The Associated Press. Chris Thile, the mandolin player who took over hosting the show after Keillor retired in 2016, announced the new name at a New York City concert.
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Keillor was fired on Nov. 29, over a year after he retired. He told The Associated Press he was fired because of “a story that I think is more interesting and more complicated than the version MPR heard.”
MPR said it received multiple allegations against Keillor, but still has not given details. MPR did say one case involved the treatment of a woman who worked on A Prairie Home Companion before Keillor’s retirement. He allegedly touched her bare back by accident while trying to comfort her.
“I put my hand on a woman’s bare back,” Keillor wrote in an email published by the Star Tribune. “I meant to pat her back after she told me about her unhappiness and her shirt was open and my hand went up it about six inches. She recoiled. I apologized. I sent her an email of apology later and she replied that she had forgiven me and not to think about it. We were friends. We continued to be friendly right up until her lawyer called.”
The 75-year-old Keillor started A Prairie Home Companion in 1974 and it grew to become an iconic radio show that featured hundreds of performers and Keillor’s own characters and performances. Although he retired in 2016, he continued to tour this year and still has plans to perform next year. According to Keillor’s website, he plans to tour from February to April 2018.
