Brian Williams Thinks a Brain Tumor Caused Him to Lie

The new "my dog ate my homework."

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Image via Complex Original
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NBC News anchor Brian Williams went from rapping the news to getting a bad wrap after he confessed that he had fabricated a story about taking enemy fire in Iraq while on board a helicopter. Subsequently Williams was suspended from his post for six months (where he remains today). When Williams got called on his bluff by one of the soldiers on board the helicopter that actually did get hit by enemy fire Williams admitted to his “mistake” and replied, 

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"I would not have chosen to make this mistake. I don’t know what screwed up in my mind that caused me to conflate one aircraft with another."

Turns out a brain tumor screwed him up. 

According to sources of a new in-depth Vanity Fair feature, NBC executives and NBC News head Deborah Turness, were told by Williams that a brain tumor was to blame for the false story:

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“He couldn’t say the words ‘I lied,’ ” recalls one NBC insider. “We could not force his mouth to form the words ‘I lied.’ He couldn’t explain what had happened. [He said,] ‘Did something happen to [my] head? Maybe I had a brain tumor, or something in my head?’ He just didn’t know. We just didn’t know. We had no clear sense what had happened. We got the best [apology] we could get.”

Sources don’t believe Williams lied about other things, citing he has never been too interested in politics:

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“What always bothered Tim [Russert] was Brian’s lack of interest in things that mattered most, that were front and center, like politics and world events,” says a person who knew both men well. “Brian has very little interest in politics. It’s not in his blood. What Brian cares about is logistics, the weather, and planes and trains and helicopters.”
“You know what interested Brian about politics?” marvels one longtime NBC correspondent, recently departed. “Brian was obsessed with whether Mitt Romney wore the Mormon underwear.”

Williams is no Bill O’Reilly, and there's still an inkling of hope that he might return to the news desk, but this Vanity Fair piece makes Williams’ flub seem unforgivable. 

 

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