Chris Hardwick's Timeout From TV Is Officially Short-Lived

By Andrew Roberts | Celebrity | July 31, 2018 |

If it weren’t already clear, the accusations against Chris Hardwick would not affect his career one bit, it is doubly clear now thanks to NBC. While there was quite the hiccup and things still feel very icky all around, Hardwick will return to his work at AMC with Talking Dead and also land on his own show once AMC decides on a return date. The network shared a statement about their investigation into the shocking allegations against the host, ending with results that didn’t surprise many, according to Variety:







“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.’ 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,”

With that, the gates of Hardwick’s career opened again and now NBC is getting in line with AMC by bringing the host back for his duties on The Wall, and August 7th as a guest judge on America’s Got Talent according to Variety. This will be followed by his Talking Dead return on August 12th. Variety did not confirm if they did their own investigation into the claims made by Hardwick’s former girlfriend Chloe Dykstra, but did address them when the news broke:

“These allegations about Chris Hardwick took us by surprise as we have had a positive working relationship with him. However, we take allegations of misconduct very seriously. Production on The Wall does not begin until September, and in the meantime we are continuing to assess the situation and will take appropriate action based on the outcome.”

Dykstra released a statement shortly after AMC reinstated Hardwick, saying she “originally wrote my essay so I could move on with my life, and now I intend to do so.” A lot of nastiness has come out between that moment and now, though, with many supporters for Hardwick defending him publicly and the host even using TMZ to fight his battles for him.

I’m not sure if there is a lesson to take from all of this. Does it prove that #MeToo might not have the staying power people have hoped? Is a black spot on the movement? Or is it all just an unfortunate set of events that seemed to have led us right back to where we started? I don’t know if it is as serious as any of those, but a lesson isn’t clear either. That said, if Dykstra is ready to move on with her life, the best people can do is continue to support her and live themselves. If Charlie Rose or Matt Lauer are now attempting to rehabilitate their image, it shouldn’t be surprising that Hardwick would be back on television sooner rather than later anyway.