Brian Williams to leave MSNBC and NBC News at the end of the year

Variety

The 11th Hour with Brian Williams host, who joined NBC News in 1993, "has informed us he would like to take the coming months to spend time with his family,” said MSNBC president Rashida Jones in a staff memo. “He will be signing off from The 11th Hour at the end of the year.” The 62-year-old Williams is currently in the last months of a contract that expires at the end of 2021. “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 wrote in a statement on Tuesday. “I have been truly blessed. I have been allowed to spend almost half of my life with one company. NBC is a part of me and always will be.” Williams revealed no immediate plans for a new on-air role. “This is the end of a chapter and the beginning of another,” he wrote. “There are many things I want to do, and I’ll pop up again somewhere.” As Variety's Brian Steinberg points out, "MSNBC raised eyebrows earlier this month when it did not use Williams as an anchor during its Election Night coverage, relying on Rachel Maddow, Joy Reid and Nicolle Wallace and keeping Williams in his late-night roost. Williams has been one of NBCU’s best-known news personnel, working for the company for nearly three decades and translating a gift for oratory and narration into appearances on late-night talk shows and even Saturday Night Live.” After joining NBC News in 1993 and becoming White House correspondent, Williams helped launch MSNBC in 1996 as host of The News with Brian Williams while serving as Tom Brokaw's chief substitute anchor for NBC Nightly News. Williams ascended to the anchor chair of Nightly News in December 2004. During that time, Williams became known for his ability to converse on late-night talk shows, particularly Late Show with David Letterman. In 2007, he became the first nightly news anchor to host Saturday Night Live. From 2011 to 2013, he hosted the NBC News primetime magazine Rock Center with Brian Williams. But his career began to unravel in early 2015 when it emerged that he had embellished a story about being under fire while he was aboard a military helicopter during the Iraq War in a 2013 interview on Letterman's show. Williams lost his Nightly News job, was suspended for six months and returned to the air later that year as MSNBC's chief breaking news anchor. In September 2016, he became host of The 11th Hour, while also anchoring special news coverage on MSNBC, including election specials. On The 11th Hour, Williams was able to be more opinionated, mocking everybody from former President Trump to anti-maskers. By 2019, Williams overcame the Iraq War scandal and was touted as one of MSNBC and NBC News' stars during NBC's upfronts.

UPDATE:

• Brian Williams addresses his departure on The 11th Hour: “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 to close out Tuesday's show. "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. Twenty eight years, 38 countries, eight Olympic Games, seven presidential elections, half a dozen presidents, a few wars, and one SNL. Good friends were in great supply at NBC. I was fortunate that everyone I worked with made me better at my job. I have had the best colleagues imaginable. That includes great bosses. I was on the air for the launch of MSNBC. My return years later was my choice. As was launching The 11th Hour that I’m as proud of as the decade I spent anchoring Nightly News. I wanted it to be called The 11th Hour as it was it was late in the 2016 campaign back then, and I wanted it to air at 11 PM Eastern time. I ask all those of you who are a part of our loyal viewing audience to remain loyal. The 11th Hour will remain in good hands produced by the best team in cable news. Special thanks are due to our guests on The 11th Hour. The journalists who made our broadcast what it was, they are our stars and in this era, stars have Pulitzers."