NBC’s Lester Holt sat in for embattled “Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams on Monday night and took a few moments to address his colleague’s absence.
“We want to take just a moment to tell you where Brian is tonight,” Holt said. “In a message to his colleagues over the weekend, Brian told us he’s taking several days off this broadcast amid questions over how he recalls certain stories he covered. In a career spent covering the news, Brian told us it’s clear he’s become too much a part of the news. He’ll be off while this issue is dealt with.”
Holt’s statement, which was a rehashing of the “personal note” Williams posted on NBCNews.com over the weekend announcing his decision to take some time off, didn’t indicate when the longtime anchor would return to the broadcast.
NBC reportedly assigned its own investigative team to look into Williams’ story about being in a helicopter hit by enemy fire in Iraq in 2003, as well as some of the tales he’s told over the years about his time reporting on Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Watch below via NBC News:
