The TV talking head will return to his post at Talking Dead and Talking with Chris Hardwick, a little over a month after he was accused of sexual and emotional abuse by an ex-partner.
Chris Hardwick’s Hollywood exile has apparently come to an end. Just a few weeks after AMC paused its relationship with the omnipresent TV host after he was accused of sexual and emotional abuse by an ex-partner, it seems the network has had a change of heart. According to Entertainment Weekly, Hardwick will be reinstated as the host of Talking Dead, the Walking Dead-themed talk show he has hosted since 2011, and as the host of his series Talking with Chris Hardwick. His renewed tenure on Talking Dead will begin on August 12. It was previously reported that Yvette Nicole Brown would temporarily take over Hardwick’s position on that date, in addition to hosting a Walking Dead Season 9 preview special on August 5. Per E.W., she will still host the special, and will now be a guest on the August 12 Talking Dead episode.
Hardwick came under fire in June after his former girlfriend, actress and model Chloe Dykstra, accused him of sexual and emotional abuse in a lengthy personal essay on Medium. Though Dykstra did not name Hardwick in the essay, he later released a statement confirming that she was writing about him. In the statement, he simultaneously denied the allegations and claimed that Dykstra cheated on him. Actress and model Lydia Hearst, Hardwick’s wife, also released a statement in defense of her husband.
It is not yet clear when Talking with Chris Hardwick will return. Representatives for AMC and Hardwick have not yet responded to Vanity Fair’s request for comment.