It has been confirmed that Brian Williams will remain at NBC in the news division, but he will not return to his position as anchor when his unpaid six-month suspension is up in August.
Williams was the anchor for NBC’s Nightly News. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the announcement of Williams’ return came Thursday afternoon from NBC News chairman Andy Lack and NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke.
In an interview, Williams expressed, “I’m sorry. I said things that weren’t true. I let down my NBC colleagues and our viewers, and I’m determined to earn back their trust.”
Williams is joining MSNBC as an anchor or breaking news and special reporter. Since February, Lester Holt has been anchoring the broadcast. He has been named the permanent anchor of Nightly News. When Holt is not available, Williams will take over the special news reports. Over the past four months, the issue has finally been resolved. The negotiations made between NBCUni executives and Williams’ representative, Washington attorney Robert Barnett, agreed to Williams’ return.
Before the scandal surrounding Williams was revealed, he had signed a five-year $50 million deal with NBC News. The scandal was first exposed in February. U.S. service men began to vocally question Williams’ multiple reports of trip in Iraq back in 2003. Williams had claimed he was in a Black Hawk that was downed by RPG fire. After he made this claim, NBC’s internal investigation scrapped up some additional stories from Williams that were questionable. These questions surrounded his reports during Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and from Egypt’s Tahrir Square in 2011. Williams also claimed that he was sent a piece of the downed helicopter used during the Osama bin Laden kill mission. This raised additional suspicion following the investigations.
Throughout the negotiations surrounding Williams’ return, he claimed to be adamant about rejoining the NBC family. He strongly desired to regain his job on NBC’s Nightly News. A huge issue during the negotiations was William’s reluctance to actually apologize.
Sources say that Williams taped a sit-down interview earlier this week with Today‘s Matt Lauer. According to an NBC Statement, the interview will mark Williams’ first public statements about the scandal. It is scheduled to air Friday on Today and Nightly News.
Upon his return to NBC, Williams stated, “I’m sorry. I said things that weren’t true. I let down my NBC colleagues and our viewers, and I’m determined to earn back their trust. I will greatly miss working with the team on Nightly News, but I know the broadcast will be in excellent hands with Lester Holt as anchor. I will support him 100% as he has always supported me. I am grateful for the chance to return to covering the news. My new role will allow me to focus on important issues and events in our country and around the world, and I look forward to it.”
Williams will return to NBC in August, when his suspension is up.