As first revealed by Deadline and later confirmed by Variety, actress Yvette Nicole Brown will be taking over Chris Hardwick’s long-standing moderating duties at San Diego Comic-Con International later this month. Following allegations of sexual and emotional abuse lodged by his ex-girlfriend Chloe Dykstra, AMC had decided in June to remove Hardwick from host of their The Walking Dead and “Fear The Walking Dead” panels, while simultaneously pulling the season premiere of his talk show Talking With Chris Hardwick.
“We have had a positive working relationship with Chris Hardwick for many years. We take the troubling allegations that surfaced yesterday very seriously,” the network said in a statement when the abuse allegations first emerged. “While we assess the situation, Talking with Chris Hardwick will not air on AMC, and Chris has decided to step aside from moderating planned AMC and BBC America panels at Comic-Con International in San Diego next month.” A fervent fan of the post-apocalyptic zombie drama, Brown has appeared several times on AMC’s Walking Dead aftershow Talking Dead.
Update: Yvette Nicole Brown tweeted a confirmation of the news Wednesday morning, while stressing that she is simply “filling in for a friend,” not “jockeying for a job” as Hardwick’s replacement.
