(photo credit: globochem3x1minus1)
Breaking from The New York Times:
Brian Williams, the embattled NBC news anchor whose credibility plummeted after he acknowledged exaggerating his role in a helicopter incident in Iraq, was suspended for six months without pay, the network said Tuesday night.
Lester Holt will continue to substitute for Mr. Williams now, but finding a permanent successor will be a major problem for the network, which was not anticipating having to replace the anchor of its “Nightly News” broadcast for some time. In December, Mr. Williams signed a new five-year contract reported to be worth $10 million a year.
http://mobile.nytimes.com/...
Maybe they found out he lied about other stuff? Interesting...
Update 1:
In the comments, MTmofo has an excerpt from a politico.com article about the decision:
NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams has been suspended for six months without pay following his false claims about an experience he had during the Iraq war, NBC News president Deborah Turness announced Tuesday night.
"We have decided today to suspend Brian Williams as Managing Editor and Anchor of NBC Nightly News for six months. The suspension will be without pay and is effective immediately," Turness wrote in a memo to staff. "We let Brian know of our decision earlier today. Lester Holt will continue to substitute Anchor the NBC Nightly News."
In addition to Williams' false claims about Iraq, Turness said she the Comcast/NBCUniversal brass had "concerns about comments that occurred outside NBC News while Brian was talking about his experiences in the field."
Steve Burke, the CEO of NBC Universal, said Williams' actions "are inexcusable and this suspension is severe and appropriate." However, Burke also said Williams "deserves a second chance and we are rooting for him."
http://www.politico.com/...
(The entire NBC News memo can be found at the above Politico link.)