Nerd culture magnate Chris Hardwick‘s name has been taken off the website of Nerdist, the content company he founded, after accusations of sexual assault and emotional abuse appeared to be leveled against him by his ex-girlfriend, actress Chloe Dykstra.
“Chris Hardwick had no operational involvement with Nerdist for the two years preceding the expiration of his contract in December 2017. He no longer has any affiliation with Legendary Digital Networks. The company has removed all reference to Mr. Hardwick even as the original Founder of Nerdist pending further investigation,” a Legendary spokesperson said in statement to The Hollywood Reporter on Friday.
In a Medium post published Thursday, Dykstra detailed a three-year abusive relationship with an unnamed man whose description matches Hardwick’s. (Among numerous other identifying characteristics, she describes the man as growing from “a mildly successful podcaster to a powerhouse CEO of his own company;” Hardwick was listed as the CEO of podcast network Nerdist Industries until that mention was scrubbed Friday. Hardwick and Dykstra were in a public relationship from 2011 to 2014). Dykstra writes that the man began abusing her early in their relationship, starting with controlling behavior and verbally abusing her over perceived infractions, leading to a pattern that eventually led to him controlling every aspect of her life.
The alleged abuse included the man regularly coercing her into having sex with him when she didn’t want to. “Every night, I laid there for him, occasionally in tears,” Dykstra writes. “He called it ‘starfishing’. He thought the whole idea was funny. To be fair, I did go along with it out of fear of losing him. I’m still recovering from being sexually used (not in a super fun way) for three years. ”
Dykstra writes that she was “a ghost” during their relationship, suffering from anorexia and barely speaking. She contemplated suicide. Eventually she left him, and he allegedly sabotaged her career, pressuring people who worked with her into cutting her off.
Dykstra writes that she’s better now, but it’s been a tough process. “With the help of a therapist, a psychiatrist, good people, plus a lot of hard work, I’ve managed to rebuild my life and I’m in a much better place,” she writes. She ends the post with a call for the man to “do the right thing,” adding that she has corroborating evidence should he deny it.
Following the pickup of her post, Dykstra took to Twitter to thank people for their support.
I quietly posted an article today, unlisted on Medium. It clearly made the rounds. I’m overwhelmed and I want to thank all of you for your support and kind words- they mean so much to me. I may take some time off the internet, please know your support means everything to me.
— Chloe Dykstra (@skydart) June 15, 2018
Hardwick is the host of AMC’s Talking franchise that includes Walking Dead aftershow Talking Dead, NBC’s game show The Wall and a podcast called ID10T, which used to be called Nerdist but rebranded after Hardwick left the company last year. Hardwick also hosted the Comedy Central series @Midnight.
The allegations against Hardwick are also having an adverse affect on Nerdist, as at least one writer who worked with Nerdist has ended the professional relationship over the connection to Hardwick.
As of today I no longer write for @nerdist. The editorial staff is absolutely fantastic but I don’t want my work or name affiliated in any way with Chris Hardwick. https://t.co/QJuZDo821T
— Scott Weinberg (@scottEweinberg) June 15, 2018
TV Guide has reached out to Hardwick’s representatives for comment.
Source : TVGuide
