Chris Hardwick’s ex-girlfriend Chloe Dykstra — whose essay in June about a former boyfriend with “controlling behavior” was quickly followed by investigations into the “Talking Dead” host — took to Twitter to say that she stands by “every single word of my essay” on Friday.
Dykstra’s message, posted to her Twitter account, came on the same day news broke that Nerdist — which Hardwick co-founded — had restored Hardwick’s name to its website.
“Hey dudes. Just a reminder: I 100 percent stand by every single word of my essay,” Dykstra wrote.
She added, “I made sure it was unembellished, factual, and that I had evidence to back it up in order to protect myself in case of ACTUAL litigation (not a network investigation, where I’m not protected). That is all.”
Hey dudes. Just a reminder: I 100% stand by every single word of my essay. I made sure it was unembellished, factual, and that I had evidence to back it up in order to protect myself in case of ACTUAL litigation (not a network investigation, where I’m not protected). That is all.
— Chloe Dykstra (@skydart) August 10, 2018
Hardwick — who had previously been reinstated at AMC, which airs “Talking Dead” — returns to the show on Sunday. NBC has confirmed that it had also restored Hardwick on its programs, including “The Wall.”
Hardwick was apparently accused of misconduct by Dykstra in a June Medium essay. Though Dykstra did not name the former boyfriend, whom she said pressured her into sex and ultimately derailed her career, it was pretty easy to connect the dots to the Nerdist co-founder.
In her essay, titled “Rose-Colored Glasses: A Confession,” the 29-year-old said that when she was in her early twenties she dated a man “almost 20 years my senior” who displayed what she called “controlling behavior.”
She also accused the man of pressuring her into sex against her will, though she wrote, “To be fair, I did go along with it out of fear of losing him.” She added that “after three years of being snapped/yelled at constantly, very rarely being shown any affection- I finally left him.”
Following the essay’s publication, Hardwick was temporarily removed from “Talking Dead,” but was reinstated in July.
“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,” AMC said in a statement last month announcing that Hardwick had been reinstated.
Hey dudes. Just a reminder: I 100% stand by every single word of my essay. I made sure it was unembellished, factual, and that I had evidence to back it up in order to protect myself in case of ACTUAL litigation (not a network investigation, where I’m not protected). That is all.
— Chloe Dykstra (@skydart) August 10, 2018