Chris Hardwick's Name Restored to Nerdist Website After Investigation Into Abuse Allegations
Chris Hardwick's name has been restored on Nerdist's website.
The TV personality founded the website in 2012, but all references to him were removed after his ex-girlfriend, Chloe Dykstra, claimed in a June essay that she was abused by an unnamed ex-boyfriend, which many believed to be Hardwick. Hardwick denied all claims of abuse, and after an investigation into his conduct, Nerdist has restored his name in its "About" section.
“Founded by Chris Hardwick in 2012, Nerdist is home to the Nerdist Podcast Network, Nerdist News, and Nerdist Presents. Following an internal investigation conducted with the assistance of outside employment counsel into Mr. Hardwick’s conduct while employed at Nerdist we have made the determination to restore the reference to Mr. Hardwick as a founder of Nerdist," the website said in an official statement on Friday.
"Nerdist prides itself on being an inclusive company made up of a positive, diverse community of people who come together to share, celebrate, and discuss the things we love," the statement continued. "We absolutely do not tolerate discrimination, harassment, and other forms of abuse.”
Nerdist started as podcast hosted by Hardwick in 2010, and has since grown into a larger company, including news, reviews, videos and more. Hardwick has also hosted several TV shows, including Talking Dead, AMC's official aftershow for The Walking Dead.
After Dykstra's allegations, Hardwick was removed from Talking Dead and dropped from several San Diego Comic-Con panels. At the conclusion of their own investigation, however, AMC has decided Hardwick will return to his hosting duties.
"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," AMC said in a statement obtained by The Hollywood Reporter. Days later, the outlet reported Hardwick would also be returning to host NBC's The Wall, and would appear as a guest judge on America's Got Talent.
See more on Hardwick in the video below.
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