As Brian Williams sits at home during his six-month suspension from NBC News, executives must decide whether to fire the Nightly News anchor. And it now appears that axing him will not be a problem, because the embattled anchor has a "morality clause" in his contract.
Williams was benched after questions were raised about some of his public statements, particularly his account of riding in a helicopter that supposedly sustained a missile strike in Iraq in 2003. This story, which Williams told repeatedly, was fabricated, and NBC is conducting an internal investigation about other instances of inflating his role.
According to the gossip column:
Sources tell Page Six that Williams’ contract could hang on the morality clause issue, and whether NBC brass, including Stephen Burke and Comcast CEO Brian Roberts, rule he breached it...
Sources say that a “public morals” clause that appears in NBC News employees’ paperwork includes the verbiage:
‘“If artist commits any act or becomes involved in any situation, or occurrence, which brings artist into public disrepute, contempt, scandal or ridicule, or which justifiably shocks, insults or offends a significant portion of the community, or if publicity is given to any such conduct . . . company shall have the right to terminate.”’
Williams's high-powered lawyer, Bob Barnett, did not comment.
At last night's Saturday Night Live 40th anniversary special, Jerry Seinfeld joked, "I just found out one of the original cast members in 1975 was Brian Williams."
The Washington Post had a deep dive into Williams's problems, noting, "From 2006 to 2011, he appeared at least 146 times on programs such as “Late Show With David Letterman,” “The Tonight Show,” “Ellen” and “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart,” according to a Washington Post analysis." A former NBC producer told the WaPo, "Brian was a hell of a journalist. But Brian was always pressured by management to be more approachable, show that raconteur side of himself. And when you go on Letterman or Stewart, there are different rules."
