Television news broadcaster Lawrence O’Donnell Jr., host of MSNBC’s "The Last Word" show, was injured in a traffic accident Saturday on Tortola in the British Virgin Islands, not on St. Thomas as word on the street has been whispering all week.
O’Donnell and his brother, Michael, were injured in a taxi accident and were both transported back to the mainland for medical treatment, the TV host in New York and his brother in Boston. Both are expected to make full recoveries, though Lawrence O’Donnell will be off the air for several weeks, according to the network’s official statement.
That statement, issued by the network and read on the air Monday, said only that the two had been traveling "out of the country." But in announcing that she would sub for O’Donnell on "Last Word," newswoman Alex Wagner said the injured O’Donnell had been "in the Virgin Islands," resulting in a flood of rumors and reports that it had happened in the U.S. territory, most probably St. Thomas.
Diana Rocco, director of media relations at the network, told the Source she could not elaborate beyond the official statement and declined to specify where the accident occurred or even if O’Donnell had been traveling in the Caribbean.
On Wednesday the Source received word from a reader in contact with O’Donnell’s circle who confirmed that the accident had taken place in the British Virgin Islands. The newscaster will be fine, he added.
