Hours after an ex-girlfriend accused Chris Hardwick of emotional and sexual abuse, AMC is now feeling Hollywood heat to pull the plug on the debut of Season 2 of the host’s talk show.
RelatedChris Hardwick Wiped From Nerdist Website He Founded Amid Allegations By Ex-Girlfriend
The AMC and Embassy Row produced Talking With Chris Hardwick is set to have its second cycle premiere air at 11:02 PM ET on June 17. We hear that guests’ reps are telling the cabler that they are now “very uncomfortable” with the association with Hardwick in the #MeToo and Time’s Up era of Hollywood after months of sexual harassment and sexual assault revelations in the industry. At the very least, the reps are pressuring to have the debut postponed until the claims against Hardwick are throughly investigated, some have advocated.With the clock running out, AMC are currently said to be considering the requests, one insider tells Deadline. The cabler itself did not respond to request for comment from Deadline and has been silent on the accusations all day.
In fact, Hardwick can still be seen on the banner for AMC’s Twitter page.
Filmed over a month ago, the first episode of the eight-episode second season of Talking features Atlanta and Solo star Donald Glover as the guest. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom star Chris Pratt, Bill Hader of HBO’s Barry, Ethan Hawke, and Preacher EPs Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg are also set to appear on Talking With Chris Hardwick in Season 2. Also on AMC, Preacher’s 10-episode third season starts on June 24.
Hardwick’s former longtime girlfriend Chloe Dykstra, a TV personality and host, penned a first-person account of their three-year relationship Friday on Medium. She never mentioned Hardwick by name, but details about the “mildly successful podcaster” who grew into “a powerhouse CEO of his own company” suggest she was referring to him.
The essay, which prompted Nerdist owners Legendary Entertainment to scrub the founder’s name from the website he started, detailed a three-year relationship in which she was restricted from going out at night, having male friends or speaking in public places, and alleged that she was the victim of sexual and emotional assault.
Dykstra also alleged that after she left him, Hardwick and a female colleague had her blacklisted from the industry, calling companies “to get me fired by threatening to never work with them.”
Deadline has not independently confirmed Dykstra’s accusations.
In March, NBC renewed its Hardwick-hosted game show The Wall for a 20-episode third season, though no premiere date was announced. On Thursday, BBC America announced Hardwick would moderate the network’s Doctor Who panel at Comic-Con in San Diego next month. Hardwick, a Comic-Con panel host staple, is also penciled in to host AMC’s The Walking Dead panel in Hall H as in years past.
NBC, BBC America and AMC have not responded to requests for comment on Dykstra’s post, and reps for the clearly crisis mode Hardwick also have stayed mum. The host himself has made no comment either but yesterday he took to social media to plug the return of his show: