In We Told You White Men Would Be Fine News: Chris Hardwick Fully Reinstated to Talking Dead
Last month actress and model Chloe Dykstra wrote a post on the site Medium detailing years of alleged sexual and emotional abuse at the hands of then-boyfriend, Chris Hardwick. Hardwick was removed from hosting the AMC show Talking Dead and multiple outlets distanced themselves from him. Well, now after an investigation by AMC, Hardwick has been officially reinstated as host and will continue working for AMC.
Per Comicbook.com, the network made the following statement today:
“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,” AMC Networks said in a statement. “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.”
Hardwick will return to his Talking Dead duties beginning with the August 12th episode; additionally, AMC’s Talking with Chris Hardwick will also resume airing. So for all those out there who were talking about how Dykstra’s comments destroyed Hardwick and that he was removed without due process and oh she asked him to take her back, well here is your white knight returning back to work as if nothing happened.
Oh, but wait? I thought women could just destroy men with a word? Looks like a no.
While there are those who came to Dykstra’s defense, including former employees of Nerdist who worked with Hardwick and labeled him ‘trash’, after it came out that Dykstra tried to get back with Hardwick after their last breakup (which literally means nothing if you know how the cycle of abuse works) people were quick to defend Hardwick.
Included the Thanos-snapped Lady Sif herself, Jaimie Alexander, who said in a tweet “Guys- I’ve known Chris Hardwick for over 10 years. I knew him through his breakup with said accuser. With the personal knowledge I have regarding this situation I am choosing to follow my heart, my instincts, and support my friend.”
As well as Hardwick’s wife, Lydia Hearst, of the Hearst Magazines empire Hearsts, who said the following to Variety:
“He’s doing very well right now and I can only speak from my own experience, where the man I married was not the man who was written about in that article. I’ve known him to be nothing less than absolutely loving, compassionate, supportive, not just to myself, but to everyone he knows and works with. He’s just a genuinely good man with a good heart. I can honestly say without a doubt that he will be getting back to what he loves very soon.”
Well, she was right.
So what does this mean? Unless AMC releases what the investigation consisted of, it’s hard to know. I feel people will quickly take this to say that Dykstra was a liar, but let’s remember this wasn’t a police investigation. This was an internal affair done with AMC and Loeb & Loeb (who have people on the payroll who have worked for Rush Limbaugh and Ryan Seacrest) so they probably were looking to make sure Hardwick hadn’t done anything directed at AMC with AMC employees. That’s my guess.
At the end of the day, I see no inclination as to why Dykstra would lie about what happened and expose her personal life in such a raw and painful way. Especially since all she did was open herself to men asking her, “why didn’t she leave?” In the end, Hardwick, like most of the men who have been “hit” by #MeToo will carry on like business as usual. But you know what I’m sure people will just say that he’s changed and leave it at that.
(via Comicbook, image: Jesse Grant/Getty Images for AMC)
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