Chris Hardwick will return to 'The Wall' and serve as 'America's Got Talent' guest judge after abuse investigation

Erin Donnelly
·Yahoo Life Senior Editor

Chris Hardwick is back at work following an investigation into allegations of emotional abuse and sexual assault made by ex-girlfriend Chloe Dykstra.

Chris Hardwick will return as host of NBC’s <em>The Wall</em>. (Photo: Paul Drinkwater//NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
Chris Hardwick will return as host of NBC’s The Wall. (Photo: Paul Drinkwater//NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

Last week AMC confirmed that it was reinstating the TV personality as host of its Talking Dead and Talking With Chris Hardwick series after a “careful review” of the claims made against him. Actress Yvette Nicole Brown had been filling in for Hardwick during the investigation. Brown tweeted that Hardwick would resume hosting duties on August 12.

Hardwick’s schedule is filling up. Deadline reports that NBC has also decided to return Hardwick to its lineup. The network confirmed that the 46-year-old will appear as a guest judge on the Aug. 7 episode of America’s Got Talent. He will also be host of game show The Wall when its third season airs this fall.

Hardwick had been sidelined from his many gigs while the allegations made by Dykstra in an essay for Medium were investigated. Hardwick has denied the claims, while Dykstra later issued a statement saying that she chose not to take part in a formal investigation.

“I do not believe in an eye for an eye, and therefore I have only shared my evidence with those who I felt should see it,” she posted on Twitter, adding that she wanted to “shed light on emotional abuse” rather than “ruin the career of the person I spoke about.”

Hardwick’s return to NBC is bound to make waves. Last week Kathy Griffin was one of many critics who slammed AMC’s statement clearing him of any wrongdoing.

“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,” the network said. “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.”

Indeed, Twitter is already abuzz with reactions to Hardwick’s NBC return, with some fans lauding it as a victory against #MeToo and others saying they’re “disgusted” by the rush to forgive him.

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