Back to work. Without any pomp and circumstance, former NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams made his return to television news on Tuesday, Sept. 22, more than seven months after his suspension.
Williams, 56, stepped in, providing live coverage on MSNBC of Pope Francis’ highly anticipated visit to the United States. He wore a navy suit with a blue shirt and striped tie for the appearance.
Williams seemed calm and back to his old self while interviewing several relevant guests for the program.
He was initially suspended in February before being relieved of his job when an internal investigation found that he had exaggerated accounts of his time in the field during the Iraq War. NBC then tapped Lester Holt to become the new Nightly News host.
“I told stories that were not true. I never intended to. It got mixed up. It got turned around in my mind,” Williams told Today’s Matt Lauer in June. “I own up to this.”
At the time he also talked about his new role at MSNBC, saying, “I’m very happy to be coming back. I’m happy to have a job… I’m going to anchor breaking news, special events on MSNBC. I love the granularity and the breaking nature of live news coverage. Those moments where you can feel people tuning in.”