Brian Williams To Stay At NBC But In New Role [Video]
NBC and Brian Williams have reached an agreement that will allow Williams to stay at the network after his six-month suspension ends in August, but in a new role. Inside sources told CNN about the plan that lets Brian stay, which ends months of speculation about whether Williams would be given the boot altogether.
Although Brian Williams will not leave, executives are not allowing him to stay as the Nightly News anchor; instead, he has a new role, although NBC executives are not spilling the beans about it.
Source: Brian Williams reluctant to make unequivocal on-air apology, which is holding up NBC announcing his return. http://t.co/5HMF2EGtAa
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) June 18, 2015
“No one knows anything,” one anchor at the network complained Wednesday, reports CNN, although insiders say the network could make an announcement about Brian’s future, which has been decided by NBC Universal CEO Steve Burke and new News chair Andy Lack, as well as Williams’ attorney Bob Barnett, on Thursday. Media has speculated about whether Brian will be shifted to MSNBC or will be allowed to stay as a roving reporter, “somewhat like Ann Curry’s job after she was forced off the ‘Today’ show in 2012.”
Brian Williams to Stay at NBC, but Not 'Nightly News' http://t.co/nV189UwKXE pic.twitter.com/BA98Uw2Jvl
— TheWrap (@TheWrap) June 17, 2015
One thing needs to be cleared up before Williams can return to the network: where, when, and how Williams will express regret for the storytelling exaggerations that led to his February suspension, reports CNN. It’s reported Williams is reluctant to make an unequivocal apology.
As previously reported by the Inquisitr, Brian Williams was suspended without pay in February from his role as Nightly News anchor for lying about his role during a helicopter shoot-down in Iraq. Williams claimed to be on the ill-fated helicopter, but after being exposed by veterans who were at the scene, Brian admitted he was on a helicopter that was about half an hour away.
Lester Holt has been filling in for Williams as anchor while Brian’s fate at the network was decided, and according to The New York Times, Holt will stay in that roll for the foreseeable future. Details about Holt’s deal with NBC are not available at this time.
The New York Times reports, according to an individual close to Williams spoke to the media outlet on condition of anonymity, that Brian’s supporters see the decision made by NBC executives – whatever that decision may be – as a signal that whatever errors Brian made, they aren’t “so egregious” that the network won’t allow him to stay.
Rumor has it that NBC employees aren’t surprised that Brian Williams finally got into trouble – exaggerated stories seem to be something of a hallmark of Brian’s – however, what’s clear is that executives will allow the ex-anchor to stay.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyo506gcnZ4
[Image Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images]
