Brian Williams — the scandal-scarred former “NBC Nightly News” and “MSNBC 11th Hour” anchor — is teaming up with Netflix.
Williams will launch a video podcast for the streaming giant called, “We’re Back! With Brian Williams,” which will include interviews with newsmakers, actors, musicians, journalists and other prominent figures on “their work, lives and the moment we’re living through,” Netflix said.
It did not announce a release date for the show.
“With scientists predicting that every American will have a podcast by 2030, I thought it was time to get in the game,” Williams said in a statement.
“After 40 years in the news business, where an in-depth interview gets 4 minutes of airtime at best, I just want to have interesting conversations with creative, funny, smart, talented, and consequential people — like the shows we all grew up watching and listening to. Netflix is the perfect home,” he added.
The deal marks a renewed attempted for Williams to return to the spotlight after he was ousted from NBC News in 2015 over exaggerations and falsehoods that were found in some of his reporting — including stories from Iraq and from New Orleans after it was ravaged by Hurricane Katrina.
Williams worked at NBC for nearly three decades, including an 11-year run at “NBC Nightly News.” After his fall from grace, he moved to the Peacock Network’s then-sister outlet MSNBC, now called MS Now, to anchor “The 11th Hour” from 2016 to 2021, finishing out his contract.
He returned to the small screen for one night in 2024 to anchor a live election special for Amazon Prime Video.
Thursday’s Netflix announcement appeared to signal a steadier gig for the former anchor.
The podcast will be executive produced by Jonathan Wald, who produced the Amazon special and previously worked with Williams at NBC, Netflix said.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
