Talking Dead host Chris Hardwick began making big headlines earlier in the summer, but not because of his quips about the zombie apocalypse. Hardwick's ex-girlfriend Chloe Dykstra made public allegations of abuse during their time together, and AMC swiftly dropped him from both Talking Dead and his soon-to-premiere talk show. He was later reinstated at AMC, and not everybody at Talking Dead was happy about it. In response to Hardwick's return, a number of staffers reportedly quit Talking Dead, including an executive producer.
Approximately 25 people worked at Talking Dead prior to Chris Hardwick's return to the show. As a result of his reinstatement as host, a female executive producer and a "handful" of those 25 people chose to quit the series, according to The Wrap. Hardwick's future at AMC was in question for a little over a month, and some believed that he would not be brought back as host of Talking Dead or Talking with Chris Hardwick. To many, his return to AMC came as a shock.
With the help of outside firm Loeb & Loeb, AMC conducted an investigation into allegations against Chris Hardwick to determine whether he should be ousted from the network for good. Details about the investigation were not shared when AMC released a statement that revealed Hardwick would be back for both Talking Dead and Talking with Chris Hardwick. After a "very careful review" that involved "interviews with numerous individuals," Hardwick was reinstated, according to AMC. In seems that the results were not satisfactory to staffers at Talking Dead who elected to leave the show rather than work with Hardwick in the wake of the allegations.
It's not all that shocking that staffers waited until the confirmation of his return to leave Talking Dead. For a while, it did seem that AMC was not inclined to bring him back. The network didn't waste any time in dropping Chris Hardwick after news of the allegations broke, and rumor had it that Walking Dead superfan Yvette Nicole Brown would take over for him on a permanent basis, despite her statements that she did not intend to take his job.
Rumors of Yvette Nicole Brown's permanent takeover of Talking Dead began when she took over for Chris Hardwick when he was removed as host of panels at San Diego Comic-Con and then the subsequent news that she would take over Talking Dead for a couple of episodes. Instead, Hardwick is back and will return to the airwaves sooner rather than later. He was also reinstated at NBC.
It remains to be seen if these allegations against Chris Hardwick will impact any of his other projects beyond the staffers who quit Talking Dead. For now, he'll be back as host of Talking Dead following the midseason premiere of Fear the Walking Dead on August 12. If you haven't yet, take a look at flying zombies in the first few minutes of the midseason premiere that were released early. For more viewing options in the not-too-distant future, check out our fall TV schedule.
