Brian Williams, Anchor Caught Misleading About Iraq, Retires From MSNBC

Ben JohnsonNovember 10, 2021

Brian Williams, who anchored the “NBC Nightly News” for more than 10 years before being caught exaggerating the danger he faced while covering Operation Iraqi Freedom, has announced he is stepping down from his current position as a talk show host on MSNBC.

“Following much reflection, and after 28 years with the company, I have decided to leave NBC upon the completion of my current contract in December,” Williams said at the end of his show, “The 11th Hour,” on Tuesday night. “I have been truly blessed. I have been allowed to spend almost half my life with one company. NBC is a part of me and always will be: 28 years, 38 countries, eight Olympic Games, seven presidential elections, half a dozen presidents, a few wars, and one” episode of “SNL.”

The last thing before we go…

A message from Brian. pic.twitter.com/q2RXOG1Ea2

— 11th Hour (@11thHour) November 10, 2021

Williams first faced national backlash more than a decade after succeeding Tom Brokaw as anchor of NBC’s nightly newscast. NBC News noted in its coverage of Williams’ resignation:

In 2015, when he was the anchor of “NBC Nightly News,” Williams was suspended by the network for six months after he told an inaccurate story about his helicopter’s having been hit by a rocket-propelled grenade.

He admitted on the air that he had “made a mistake in recalling the events of 12 years ago.”

Williams claimed his helicopter had been “forced down after being hit by an RPG” while covering the second Iraq war on March 24, 2003. In reality, Iraqi forces had attacked a Chinook helicopter that passed over the area earlier in the day, and Williams’ helicopter had been forced down due to inclement weather.

“After the suspension, Williams moved to MSNBC, where he later launched ‘The 11th Hour,’” NBC noted.

NBC officials have portrayed every step of Williams’ professional decline as his own choice. After the 2015 controversy over Williams’ misleading statements, an NBC executive said that Williams chose to “bench himself” by stepping aside as anchor of the “NBC Nightly News.” He was replaced by current anchor Lester Holt.

“My return years later was my choice, as was launching ‘The 11th Hour,’” insisted Williams in his statement. He added that he wanted his show to air on MSNBC outside prime time. “I wanted it to be called ‘The 11th Hour,’ as it was late in the 2016 campaign back then, and I wanted it to air at 11 p.m. Eastern time,”