It's Official: Brian Williams Is Headed to MSNBC

It's official: NBC has confirmed that it has given Brian Williams "the chance to earn back everyone's trust," but his days as Nightly News anchor are behind him. Instead, Williams will head to MSNBC, reports CNN, where he'll anchor breaking news and special reports, while Lester Holt's interim role on Nightly News will become permanent. Williams faces a challenge with the struggling network, and the New York Times notes that in the months after the Iraq controversy, Williams went from being the 23rd most trusted US celebrity to No. 3,352 in rankings published by research firm Marketing Arm.

Insiders tell the Times that it wasn't easy to find a new role for Williams—especially since his interviewing skills are not his strongest point—but the network didn't want him to end up at a competitor. The anchor's tall tales lost him the trust not only of the public, but of many NBC staffers who didn't want him to return at all, sources tell the New York Daily News. The sources say NBC's internal investigation uncovered several other dubious claims from Williams, including a 2011 Daily Show appearance in which he said he was on the ground in Cairo's Tahrir Square during protests—instead of on a balcony overlooking them. (More Brian Williams stories.)