Journalists react to Brian Williams NBC departure

News of Brian Williams’s departure from NBCUniversal at the end of the year has brought well wishes and praise from his friends and admirers in the business, but also reminders of his past controversies from detractors. 

Williams, who has been with NBC for nearly three decades, announced on Tuesday evening he would leave the network at the conclusion of his current contract, which expires in December. 

A longtime reporter and anchor turned evening political talk show host, Williams, 62, said he would take the time away from the airwaves to spend more time with his family but is likely to “pop up somewhere” in the future. 

“I have been truly blessed. I have been allowed to spend almost half of my life with one company. NBC is a part of me and always will be,” Williams said in a statement issued to a number of news outlets and later read on air during his “11th Hour” program on MSNBC on Tuesday.

As news of Williams’s plans to leave NBC broke, praise and words of encouragement from journalists and political media figures began to pour in across social media. 

Before I had ever even met Brian Williams (& had been on his show maybe one time at this point) he literally mailed a letter of encouragement to me after I’d experienced a really difficult situation. His kindness is what kept me going & I’m so lucky to know him. ✨ https://t.co/wL6BZL26xW

— Alexi McCammond (@alexi) November 10, 2021

To echo other journalists thanking Brian Williams for his support: he bailed this cub reporter out when, in a heated debate during the ’16 IA Caucus, a student dropped an f-bomb into my hot mic. Grateful for his reaction then, and years of working together since. We’ll miss him. pic.twitter.com/HtzOpBLfFT

— Jacob Soboroff (@jacobsoboroff) November 10, 2021

This is a Brian Williams appreciation tweet. We love that he does stuff like this, and for me it’s the deadpan sense of humor and dash of hopefulness with which he always does it. https://t.co/9NnCzUMsix

— Joy-Ann (Pro-Democracy) Reid (@JoyAnnReid) November 10, 2021

It’s been such an honor to sit at the @11thHour table to see a true pro like @BWilliams’ in action. In the process, I also discovered his kindness, tremendous sense of humor and generosity of spirit. Congrats on a great run! https://t.co/WwltQCO2Y1

— Kimberly Atkins Stohr (@KimberlyEAtkins) November 10, 2021

Congrats to Brian Williams on an epic run. He helmed @11thHour with rigor, compassion and a bias for truth and accountability. He treated the news with the seriousness — and, occasionally, humor — the times commanded. Plus, he’s as good a man as they come! https://t.co/QzeQmvhSxn

— Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) November 10, 2021

Critics, meanwhile, used Williams’s announcement as an opportunity to call to mind his less flattering moments, including an incident during which the network suspended him from “Nightly News” for six months in 2015 for embellishing a story about coming under fire while in Iraq. 

Breaking photo of Brian Williams and his production crew leaving MSNBC headquarters pic.twitter.com/9es4u9qNpB

— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) November 10, 2021

I understand #BrianWilliams is quitting MSNBC, NBC and journalism entirely. I wonder if it’s finally dawned on him that he has never been a journalist. Finally, perhaps, he looked in the mirror and said, “I see before me a complete fraud.” It would be his most honest moment

— Dinesh D’Souza (@DineshDSouza) November 10, 2021

Brian Williams, now leaving MSNBC, was also one of greatest cheerleaders of U.S. war machine. He didn’t just promote war — he glorified it, including this horrific take after U.S. bombed Syria “I’m guided by the beauty of our weapons”pic.twitter.com/VtYyHzn1Sw

— ChuckModi (@ChuckModi1) November 10, 2021

“Brian’s time at NBC has been marked by breaking countless major stories, attracting leading journalists and guests to his programs, and most especially, great resiliency,” MSNBC President Rashida Jones said in a memo to NBC staff about Williams’s departure. “He has built a fiercely loyal following for The 11th Hour and we and our viewers will miss his penetrating questions and thoughtful commentary.” 

Williams said his move from NBC News to MSNBC and his placement in the 11 p.m. hour was his decision and that he looks forward to covering the news of the day through the rest of the year.

“For the next few months, I’ll be with my family, the people I love most and the people who enabled my career to happen,” he said. “I will reflect on the kindness people have shown me, and I will pay it forward.”