NBC suspends Brian Williams for 6 months without pay

Brian Williams.
(Image credit: Neilson Bernard/Getty Images)

NBC announced on Tuesday night that Nightly News anchor and managing editor Brian Williams has been suspended without pay for six months, following his misrepresentation of events that happened while covering the Iraq War in 2003.

The suspension is effective immediately, and Lester Holt will continue to substitute anchor for the Nightly News, the network said. In a memo, NBC News President Deborah Turness said, "As managing editor and anchor of Nightly News, Brian has a responsibility to be truthful and to uphold the high standards of the news division at all times. ... This was a very hard decision...but we believe this suspension is the appropriate and proportionate action." Read the full memo at Politico.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.