Keillor back in spotlight after sexual misconduct allegation

Garrison Keillor looked comfortable on the small stage as he sang Christmas lullabies, told off-colour limericks and spun a tale about a lutefisk dinner at the fictitious Lake Wobegon.

Starting off with his familiar opener “Tishomingo Blues,” Keillor offered up a warm, nostalgic take on his former public radio show A Prairie Home Companion.

Fans laughed, applauded and sang along throughout Sunday night’s twohour show; the second of back-to-back, sold-out Keillor performances at a jazz nightclub in a northern Minneapolis suburb not far from where Keillor grew up.

For Keillor, it’s a much smaller audience than the millions of radio listeners he entertained on Saturday evenings during the heyday of Prairie Home. But the nightclub show also represents a step into the spotlight for the 76-year- old Keillor a year after Minnesota Public Radio cut ties with him over a sexual misconduct allegation.

MPR broke business ties with Keillor over a sexual misconduct allegation in November 2017. A former freelance researcher for Prairie Home alleged Keillor had sexually harassed her, but Keillor maintains sexually suggestive emails he exchanged with her were simply “romantic writing.”

Keillor declined an interview request from The Associated Press.

Becky Bierbaum, a 74-year-old fan from Mahtomedi, Minn., who estimates she has seen Keillor perform 15 times, said she is glad to see him again.

“I think he’ll be very well received by those who are devoted to him,” Bierbaum said.

Onstage, Keillor did not mention the allegation that prompted MPR to cut ties with him after more than 40 years and to rename his former show Live from Here.