Chris Hardwick: Now That He’s Returning to AMC, NBC Will Also Stay In Business With the Host
A week after AMC announced that Chris Hardwick would return to the network and “Talking Dead,” NBC is confirming that the host will also be back on the Peacock’s airwaves.
NBC didn’t take any initial action on Hardwick, since he wasn’t on the network’s air when allegations were first leveled against the host, accusing him of sexual assault. But now, Hardwick will indeed appear on the August 7 episode of NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” as a guest judge. He is also confirmed to continue as host of “The Wall” when it returns to the network for Season 3. (Production resumes this fall on “The Wall.”)
NBC declined comment on whether it conducted its own investigation or took its cue from AMC’s recent decision to bring Hardwick back on screen.
Hardwick was accused of sexual abuse by ex-girlfriend Chloe Dykstra in a Medium essay written last month. In the piece, Dykstra detailed an abusive, years-long relationship with an unnamed man whom readers quickly deduced was Hardwick.
After the post, AMC yanked Hardwick’s “Talking With Chris Hardwick” off the air and Hardwick stepped down from hosting AMC’s “The Walking Dead” and “Fear the Walking Dead” San Diego Comic-Con panels.
But Hardwick was reinstated last week, and will now be back as host of “Talking Dead” when it returns on August 12.
“Following a comprehensive assessment by AMC, working with Ivy Kagan Bierman of the firm Loeb & Loeb, who has considerable experience in this area, Chris Hardwick will return to AMC as the host of ‘Talking Dead’ and ‘Talking with Chris Hardwick,’” AMC said in a statement last week. “We take these matters very seriously and given the information available to us after a very careful review, including interviews with numerous individuals, we believe returning Chris to work is the appropriate step.”
