Dan Rather criticized NBC News for its treatment of Brian Williams during months of turmoil surrounding his exaggerations over past war reporting, saying the network “threw him under the bus.”
“When things started coming apart, he didn’t hire an expert to help him,” Rather told Roger Friedman.” He relied on [NBC’s] PR people. He trusted them. That was his mistake. They threw him under the bus.”
The criticism from Rather is the strongest on-the-record statement from the former “CBS Evening News” anchor regarding his former competitor Williams.
It’s not entirely accurate either as Williams didn’t lean exclusively on NBC News public relations to defend his reputation — he enlisted D.C. super lawyer Bob Barnett to negotiate with the network and get his message out during months of ambiguity regarding his future with NBC.
Williams returns to the TV news airwaves Sept. 22nd on MSNBC. He’ll anchor across afternoon programming on the revamped network.