After taking a few hours to ponder the situation, Chris Hardwick released a response to the damning essay posted by his ex-girlfriend Chloe Dykstra on Medium, in which she alleged that her former boyfriend was emotionally and sexually abusive of her and kept her under extreme scrutiny, not allowing her to go out at night without him, have male friends or even speak in public without his permission. These conditions, Dykstra wrote, led to her developing anorexia and suffering a life-threatening ectopic pregnancy. She also stated that after their breakup, her former boyfriend had her blacklisted in Hollywood.
Dykstra’s essay was published on Friday morning and quickly went viral. Hardwick offered his response on Friday night:
“These are very serious allegations and not to be taken lightly which is why I’ve taken the day to consider how to respond. I was heartbroken to read Chloe’s post. Our three year relationship was not perfect—we were ultimately not a good match and argued—even shouted at each other—but I loved her, and did my best to uplift and support her as a partner and companion in any way and at no time did I sexually assault her.
“When we were living together, I found out that Chloe had cheated on me, and I ended the relationship. For several weeks after we broke up, she asked to get back together with me and even told me she wanted to have kids with me, ‘build a life’ with me and told me that I was ‘the one,’ but I did not want to be with someone who was unfaithful. I’m devastated to read that she is now accusing me of conduct that did not occur. l was blindsided by her post and always wanted the best for her. As a husband, a son, and future father, I do not condone any kind of mistreatment of women.”
Though Dykstra did not name Hardwick in her account, it was easy to put the pieces together. His former company Nerdist was quick to react, erasing any mention of him from their website and issuing a statement that Hardwick had not had any connection to the company in three years. Fans were quick to call for AMC to fire him from the ‘Walking Dead’ after show ‘Talking Dead’ and replace him with frequent guest Yvette Nicole Brown.
Though AMC hasn’t made a statement regarding ‘Talking Dead’, they have yanked Hardwick’s other talk show ‘Talking with Chris Hardwick’ which was scheduled to air Sunday night. The episodes were filmed a month ago and the premiere episode had Donald Glover as the special guest. Subsequent episodes featured Chris Pratt, Bill Hader, Ethan Hawke, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. It has not been decided when or if these episodes of ‘Talking’ will ever air.
Here is AMC’s statement:
“We have had a positive working relationship with Chris Hardwick for many years. We take the troubling allegations that surfaced yesterday very seriously. While we assess the situation, Talking With Chris Hardwick will not air on AMC, and Chris has decided to step aside from moderating planned AMC and BBC America panels at Comic-Con International in San Diego next month.”
At the BBC panel, Hardwick would have introduced Jodie Whittaker making her first US appearance since being cast as ‘Doctor Who’.
In addition to his AMC shows, Hardwick also hosts the NBC game show ‘The Wall’. NBC has stated that it is “assessing” the situation. Here is their statement:
“These allegations about Chris Hardwick took us by surprise as we have had a positive working relationship with him. However, we take allegations of misconduct very seriously. Production on The Wall does not begin until September, and in the meantime we are continuing to assess the situation and will take appropriate action based on the outcome.”
At this point, it’s one person’s word against another’s. All interested parties are sure to probe further into this situation and Hardwick’s future will depend on the outcome.
Stay tuned for more updates as they become available.
Source: Deadline
