--- title: Brian Williams Talks Move to MSNBC on Today Show With Matt Lauer description: "Ego" was the buzz word in the interview with the former NBC Nightly News anchor canonical: https://time.com/3928024/brian-williams-matt-lauer/ author: Sarah Begley article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-19T12:37:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:41:17.163Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Brian Williams: "I Told Stories That Were Wrong" og:description: "Ego" was the former NBC Nightly News anchor's buzz word in the interview og:url: https://time.com/3928024/brian-williams-matt-lauer/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf1978ea6cf539bd5/6988555bcd6848f4820a06e3/brian-williams.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon - Season 2 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Brian Williams: "I Told Stories That Were Wrong" twitter:description: "Ego" was the former NBC Nightly News anchor's buzz word in the interview twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf1978ea6cf539bd5/6988555bcd6848f4820a06e3/brian-williams.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Brian Williams Admits, 'I Told Stories That Were Wrong' > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. ## Video: Brian Williams Says Lies Were 'Ego-Driven' [Watch (HLS stream): Brian Williams Says Lies Were 'Ego-Driven'](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/o5agVDYk.m3u8) (1:02)  _Published 2015-06-19. Former NBC News anchor Brian Williams sat down with Matt Lauer for Williams' first interview since admitting he exaggerated reporting experiences._ by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Jun 19, 2015 12:37 PM UTC  Brian Williams on the Tonight Show, January 16, 2015 Brian Williams on the Tonight Show, January 16, 2015Douglas Gorenstein—NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Jun 19, 2015 12:37 PM UTC Brian Williams’ interview with _Today’s_ Matt Lauer was a tale of two words: one he wouldn’t say (“lies”) and one he used repeatedly (“ego”). NBC announced Thursday that the former _Nightly News_ anchor and managing editor has officially lost his chair to Lester Holt, and will become a breaking news anchor for MSNBC. Williams followed the news on Friday with an interview with Matt Lauer, which ran in part on the _Today_ show with more to come on _Nightly News_. While Lauer pressed him to admit to the public that he had knowingly lied about his experiences (most famously the helicopter incident in Iraq in 2003), Williams couldn’t bring himself to use the L-word, instead saying phrases like “I said things that were wrong” and “I said things that weren’t true.” NBC conducted an internal investigation on Williams after the uproar over the Iraq exaggeration, and reportedly found 10 to 12 other incidents where he had stretched the truth, usually not in the anchor chair but at extracurricular events like late-night talk show appearances and public speeches. After reviewing the findings, Williams said: “It had to have been ego that made me think I had to be sharper, funnier, quicker than anybody else. Put myself closer to the action, having been at the action in the beginning.” Williams emphasized several times that it was not his intent to willingly mislead people, offering as an explanation, “this came from clearly a bad place, a bad urge inside me.” Now he says he wants to be held to a harsher standard than ever to win back his viewers’ trust. On his move to MSNBC, Williams said, “Was it my first choice? No. Obviously I wanted to return to my old job. I thought we had had a great 10-year run.” But he’s “very happy” to be returning to work in a breaking news capacity, reporting on the kinds of stories where “you can feel people tuning in.” On the promotion of Lester Holt, Williams said, “No one is more deserving.” ### See Brian Williams Through The Years  Brian Williams was the Editorial Editor for his school newspaper seen here on the far right during his Senior Year at Mater Dei High School in New Monmouth, N.J. in 1977. Seth Poppel—Yearbook Library  From Left: Brian Williams, President George W. Bush and AP writer Glenn Johnson talk aboard Bush's campaign plane in Florence S.C. on Feb. 17, 2000. Reuters  From Left: Brian Williams poses with NBC Anchor Tom Brokaw in New York City prior to Brokaw's last broadcast on Dec. 1, 2004. Richard Drew—AP  Brian Williams during a break in the "NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams" show in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005. Dwaine Scott—NBC/AP  Brian Williams reports from Camp Liberty in Baghdad on March 8, 2007. Jeff Riggins—NBC/Getty Images  From Left: President Barack Obama and Brian Williams takes a look at what happens in the White House and the West Wing during a day in the life of the Obama administration on May 29, 2009. Subrata De—NBC/Getty Images  From Left: Amy Poehler, Brian Williams and Seth Meyers on 'Saturday Night LIve' on Nov. 3, 2007. Dana Edelson—NBC/Getty Images  Jimmy Fallon and Brian Williams "Slow Jam the News" on 'The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon' on Dec. 2, 2014. Douglas Gorenstein—NBC/Getty Images  From Left: Brian Williams, Allison Williams and Jane Stoddard Williams attend the "Girls" season four series premiere after party at The Museum of Natural History on Jan. 5, 2015. Jamie McCarthy—Getty Images  Brian Williams embraces Army Command Sergeant Major Tim Terpak at a hockey game at Madison Square Garden in New York on Jan. 29, 2015, where Terpak was honored. Williams admitted to conflating events when describing his experiences in combat with Terpak during the Iraq war. On Feb. 10, he was suspended without pay for six months. 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