AMC Pulls ‘Talking With Chris Hardwick’ After Chloe Dykstra’s ‘Troubling Allegations’

AMC has pulled ‘Talking with Chris Hardwick” from its schedule while it asses accusations of abusive behavior made against him Friday by his ex-girlfriend, Chloe Dykstra. Hardwick has also withdrawn as moderator on the cable channel’s planned Comic-Con 2018 panels.

“We have had a positive working relationship with Chris Hardwick for many years. We take the troubling allegations that surfaced yesterday very seriously,” AMC said in a statement.

“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.”

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Dykstra detailed accusations of abuse and derailing her career in a Medium post on Friday, and although she doesn’t mention Hardwick by name, the timing and key details suggest that she is referring to the former “@Midnight” host and Comic-Con mainstay.

In addition to accusing Hardwick of “controlling behavior” and “sexual assault,” Dykstra also said that after the breakup her ex-boyfriend and an unnamed female colleague “made calls to several companies I received regular work from to get me fired by threatening to never work with them. He succeeded. I was blacklisted.”

In a carefully worded statement released late Friday, Hardwick said he is “heartbroken” and “devastated” over Dykstra’s accusations, and insisted that “at no time did I sexually assault her.”

But in addition to denying her accusation of sexual assault, Hardwick also accused Dykstra, an actress and former on-air personality on the Nerdist YouTube network that he founded, of infidelity during their relationship. He did not however address Dykstra’s accusation of career retaliation in his statement.

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Earlier Friday, Hardwick’s name was scrubbed from the Nerdist website. Hardwick co-founded founded Nerdist in February 2012, and the company was sold to Legendary Entertainment in July of that year.

“Chris Hardwick had no operational involvement with Nerdist for the two years preceding the expiration of his contract in December 2017,” a Legendary Entertainment representative said Friday in a statement to TheWrap. “He no longer has any affiliation with Legendary Digital Networks.”

“The company has removed all reference to Mr. Hardwick even as the original Founder of Nerdist pending further investigation,” the rep continued.

On Friday afternoon, Nerdist said in a statement that it was “shocked” by the accusations, and that the behavior Hardwick is accused of “is contrary to everything we stand for and believe in.” The statement also provided contact information for organizations that help abuse survivors.

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“Talking with Chris Hardwick” was set to premiere on Sunday. This season’s lineup was to have included Donald Glover, Chris Pratt, Bill Hader, Ethan Hawke, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg.

Hardwick has been a mainstay at AMC since 2011, when “Talking Dead” premiered after “The Walking Dead” Season 2. Hardwick also hosted “Talking Bad” after “Breaking Bad,” “Talking Saul” after “Better Call Saul,” and “Talking Preacher” after “Preacher.”