Chris Hardwick has scored a major professional win after his career was seemingly derailed by sexual assault claims leveled at him by his ex-girlfriend. Hardwick has been given the green light by AMC to return to the air on Talking Dead.
Here is what AMC had to say about the decision:
“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.”
The plan is for Hardwick to be back on Talking Dead for its August 12 premiere, right after the Season 4 mid-season debut of Fear The Walking Dead. Frequent Talking Dead participant and Hardwick’s SDCC panel replacement Yvette Nicole Brown will still front the previously set The Walking Dead Season 9 preview special August 5 and appear as a guest on Talking Dead the following week. No return date for Season 2 of Talking With Chris Hardwick has been set yet due to scheduling issues but all episodes are already in the can.
After accusations by Hardwick’s ex Chloe Dykstra surfaced on June 15, AMC pulled the Season 2 June 17 premiere of Talking with Chris Hardwick. At the time, the network also said that The Wall host would not participate in Talking Dead for the immediate future, nor for The Walking Dead or Doctor Who panels at SDCC, he had already been set for.
Hardwick vehemently denied here allegations with this statement:
“These are very serious allegations and not to be taken lightly which is why I’ve taken the day to consider how to respond. I was heartbroken to read Chloe’s post. Our three year relationship was not perfect—we were ultimately not a good match and argued—even shouted at each other—but I loved her, and did my best to uplift and support her as a partner and companion in any way and at no time did I sexually assault her.”
In the post #MeToo movement, where everyone accused seems to be guilty before being proven innocent, Hardwick received a lot of support, particularly from other ex-girlfriends who stated that the man they dated showed no signs of the behavior that Dykstra described and they had nothing but nice things to say about him. AMC giving him his hosting duties back doesn’t prove Dysktra’s claims were false but it does show that they may be without merit since a lot of networks and studios have not backtracked on their decision to let someone go after these allegations come to light.
