The fallout from Chris Hardwick‘s scandal involving ex-girlfriend Chloe Dykstra continues, as Warner Bros. has announced that the Talking Dead host will not be moderating the studio’s DC Films panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2018.
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The Wrap reports that their sources close to WB are informing them that the change in moderator comes in light of the controversy surrounding Hardwick, which has recently involved the reveal of his breakup texts with Dykstra, which have done little to assuage furious fans, who have been calling for harsh consequences for Hardwick. Hardwick’s camp did not offer any comment on the matter.
WB/DC is supposed to debut two big trailers at SDCC18: James Wan’s Aquaman and David F. Sander’s Shazam. Both films will continue to the DC Extended Universe brand, which took another hit with the low performance of Justice League last fall.
Hardwick’s troubles began last week, when his ex-girlfriend Chloe Dykstra posted a disturbing essay that revealed her own #MeToo story of abuses suffered at the hands of an ex. It didn’t take long for people to piece together that Hardwick was the subject of that essay, and for the outrage to fly.
Since that initial reveal, Hardwick has scrambled to tell his side of the story, claiming that Dykstra had her own set of issues that ended their 2012 – 2014 relationship, while maintaining his innocence when it comes to any kind of abuse accusations. As stated, the scandal has caused Hardwick’s career to come to a screeching halt; AMC has pulled his talk show, and could potentially replace him as host of its popular Talking Dead post-show; Hardwick has also seen other Comic-Con and other festival hosting gigs pulled off the table, and could lose his job hosting NBC’s game show The Wall, as well.
Hardwick made a huge splash at the 2014 DC/WB panel, taking an epic selfie with Batman v Superman stars Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, and Gal Gadot. He returned to moderate the SDCC 2017 WB/DC panel, introducing the whole Justice League cast and trailer to millions of eager fans. While WB has managed to pull other big-name hosts in as moderators (Aisha Tyler and Conan O’Brien), this will be yet another big signifier that Chris Hardwick’s reign as go-to-host in the geek sphere is eroding quickly.
We’ll keep you updated on this story.
San Diego Comic-Con will take place on July 18 – 22nd. Check out the video above for a full breakdown of what to expect this year.
