Chris Hardwick Biography, Wife, Net Worth and Allegations of Abuse 

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Chris Hardwick is an American podcaster and television host who has been active in the entertainment industry since 1991 and has built a successful career. He is well known to followers of the hit TV shows, The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead. Some of the shows he has hosted include Talking Bad, Talking Saul, Web Soup, Singled out and Wired Science. Chris is also an actor, writer, and comedian.

However, for many who aren’t fans of The Walking Dead franchise, this is the perfect opportunity to get to know Chris Hardwick a little bit better.

Biography

Christopher Ryan Hardwick was born on the 23rd of November, 1971, to Billy Hardwick – a professional bowler, and Sharon Hills – a real estate agent. Chris grew up as a Roman Catholic, which was his mother’s faith.

While he might not look it from his career and personality, Hardwick somewhat of a chess professional, winning the 1983 Memphis City Junior High Chess Championship. He later attended Loyola High School in Los Angeles and before moving on to UCLA where he studied philosophy.

His career in Hollywood started in the 90s as a DJ on KROQ-FM, a Los Angeles radio station. In 1998, he appeared in his first comedy show Guys Like Us before its cancellation in January 1999.

Hardwick is a bit of a do-it-all when it comes to the creative artistry in Hollywood, the comedian-writer has appeared in over 40 movies and TV shows. He is also a contributing writer for the popular publication, Wired, since 2007. Also, he is an entrepreneur in ventures he’s described as his ‘nerd media empire’. He owns Nerdist theater, an entertainment venue in Los Angeles. He partnered with GeekChickDaily, a multi-platform pop culture publication to create Nerdist Industries.

Mostly known as a TV and podcast host, Chris Hardwick started hosting in 1993, when he hosted the MTV game show, Trashed. Then from 1995 to 1998, he co-hosted an MTV dating game show, Singled Out. Between October 2007 to December 2007, Hardwick hosted PBS’ weekly series, Wired Science while he started writing for the Wired magazine.

On February 2010, Hardwick began the production of the Nerdist podcast with Jonah Ray and Matt Mira. The podcast was critically well received and named one of the 2010s best. In 2011, Hardwick hosting career was in full swing, signing a contract with BBC America in May 2011 to host a panel talk show for the network based on his Nerdist podcast.

Before the end of 2011, he added Talking Dead to his CV, a live aftershow about AMC’s hit series, The Walking Dead. On the show, Chris Hardwick would interview celebrity fans of The Walking Dead show as well as the shows’ cast and crew. A successful hosting of the show got AMC to sign him on to another aftershow, this time for another hit show, Breaking Bad. He also hosts the aftershow of the spinoff from the Breaking Bad series, Better Call Saul.

We’ve mentioned Chris Hardwick is a bit of a do it all. He is also a comedian and he performs regularly in a half-hour comedy show with Mike Phirman. Comedians are usually known to film specials and the Nerdist founder is not an exception. On February 17, 2012, Hardwick filmed his first one hour stand up special for Comedy Center in the city of New York.

The Do-It-All touts Steve Martin, George Carlin, Richard Pryor and a few other legends of the comic world as his influences.

Net Worth

With several hosting gigs under his belt, Chris Hardwick is one of Hollywood’s most sought-after talent. He has starred in several movies and has done multiple voice-over works. As a result, Chris ranks fairly well among his peers in terms of his wealth. The comedian is considered to be worth around $15 million.

Chris Hardwick’s Wife

Currently, Chris Hardwick is married to Lydia Hearst, an American model and blogger. The couple got married on the 12th of September, 2015. Before meeting Lydia and subsequently getting married, he was previously engaged to model and actress Jacinda Barrett. He also dated American actress, Janet Varney, from 2004-2011 and Chloe Dykstra from 2011 to July 2014.

Abuse Allegations

Chris, who has dated a few women before his marriage has had a pretty drama-free life until June 14, 2018, when his ex-girlfriend, Chloe Dykstra wrote on Medium that she was a victim of emotional and sexual abuse at his hands. While the essay itself failed to name the comedian, the crumbs it laid pointed directly back to him.

Nerdist, in response to the allegations, removed Chris Hardwick’s works from their website until an investigation was carried out. Similarly, AMC pulled his Talking with Chris Hardwick show.

As expected, he denied the allegations and opinions were split regarding the veracity of the allegations against the talk host. On July 25, 2018, AMC announced his reinstatement and the return of his shows after the completion of an investigation. The decision which made Chris Hardwick’s co-producer Jen Patton and several staffers walk away from his show, Talking Dead.

Also Read: Top 10 Richest People in the world with full biography and details.