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NEW YORK, Aug. 12 (UPI) -- Following a six-month forced hiatus without pay from NBC News, news anchor and television personality Brian Williams is due to return on-air in mid-September. Williams has stated that he appreciates the second chance he has been given to regain his audience's and coworkers' trust, vowing to never repeat the same mistakes again.
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The veteran journalist also admitted that fabricating stories was "clearly ego-driven."
Williams will return to NBC as a breaking news anchor on MSNBC as the cable network is planning to scrap most of its daytime political shows with hard news.
Williams was suspended in February from "NBC Nightly News" when he revisited an old story in an effort to honor veteran Sgt. Maj. Tim Terpak. Williams insisted that he was aboard a Chinook helicopter that was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) during his report on the war in Iraq. In reality, Williams and his crew were safe in another helicopter. He drew criticisms online by individuals who called him out on his bluff, which led Williams to recant his story that same week.
The incident sparked an investigation by NBC that revealed multiple occasions where Williams lied about or created a story on his show, which ultimately led to the news organization suspending him for six months without pay.
Seasoned reporter Lester Holt took over the show in his absence.
In June, it was determined that Williams would stay at NBC but not in his previous post.
Other questions about Williams' return - such as whether he has the same office space and whether he will return to the network's 30 Rockefeller Plaza building - remain a mystery.
