Williams wanted to host late-night show

Brian Williams, who NBC has suspended for six months without pay over false claims, once wanted to be a comedian.

In around 2010, the star news anchor wanted to eventually take over the reins of a late-night show, such as NBC’s franchise “The Tonight Show” from long-running host Jay Leno, according to The New York Times.

Williams told NBC executives at the time that he had interest in becoming a late-night host, according to the newspaper, which reported that network executives “called the idea ridiculous, telling him that he was a journalist, not a comedian, and to stick to the news department.”

Leno, who hosted the show since 1992, was replaced by Conan O’Brien in 2009 but returned to host the show the following year. He eventually left last spring, shifting the hosting chair to Jimmy Fallon.

NBC has launched an internal review of Williams, the network’s star news anchor who has fallen from grace for incorrectly retelling a story about his time riding a helicopter in the early days of the Iraq war in 2003.

Last week, Williams apologized during a segment on “NBC Nightly News” for incorrectly claiming on another segment from January that he was on a helicopter hit by a rocket-propelled grenade, an account he was retold a number of times, including during on appearance on David Letterman’s late-night show in 2013.

Questions have also surfaced over his retelling of events while reporting on Hurricane Katrina.

NBC has suspended Williams for six months without pay for his false Iraq story, NBC News president Deborah Turness announced late Tuesday.

“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,” Turness said in a note to NBC News staff.

Later she added that Williams “deserves a second chance and we are rooting for him.”