Chris Hardwick to return to host The Talking Dead after an AMC investigation

Per The Hollywood Reporter, Chris Hardwick is returning to his role as the host of AMC’s The Talking Dead, the popular Walking Dead aftershow. AMC took Hardwick off the show — and off his weekly chat show Talking With Chris Hardwick — after ex-girlfriend Chloe Dykstra penned an essay for Medium alleging mental and sexual abuse by Hardwick, although she didn’t call him by name in the post. Nerdist Industries, the media company Hardwick founded, also removed his name from its website, and was replaced as the moderator at several panels at this past weekend’s San Diego Comic-Con.

Hardwick also hosts the NBC reality series The Wall, although NBC didn’t take any action against him after the allegations surfaced. And as far as AMC is concerned, Hardwick is back in. The network released a statement:

"Following a comprehensive assessment by AMC, working with Ivy Kagan Bierman of the firm Loeb & Loeb, who has considerable experience in this area, Chris Hardwick will return to AMC as the host of Talking Dead and Talking With Chris Hardwick. We take these matters very seriously, and given the information available to us after a very careful review, including interviews with numerous individuals, we believe returning Chris to work is the appropriate step."

For his part, Hardwick denied Dykstra’s allegations, noting that their relationship “was not perfect.” Community star Yvette Nicole Brown took over for Hardwick on the Comic-Con panels in his absence and will still do the The Walking Dead season 9 preview show on The Talking Dead. Hardwick will resume hosting duties on the August 12 show, the same day Fear the Walking Dead kicks off the second half of its fourth season.

AMC isn’t the only network under fire for employing controversial figures. At this week’s Television Critics Association press tour, HBO programming president Casey Bloys faced questions about the continued employment of James Franco, who stars in and executive produces The Deuce, about the birth of the modern porn industry in 1970s New York City. Five women have accused Franco of sexually inappropriate and exploitative behavior. Bloys said he talked with producers and cast members, including star Maggie Gyllenhaal, and that “we all felt comfortable moving forward with a second season.”

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h/t Deadline