Brian Williams has decided to take some time away from NBC Nightly News following a swell of backlash after he was forced to admit an erroneous first-hand account of events in Iraq in 2003.

Brian Williams’ Announces Hiatus

Williams announced his decision to remove himself from the air for a stretch of time through a personal note published on Saturday.

“In the midst of a career spent covering and consuming news, it has become painfully apparent to me that I am presently too much a part of the news, due to my actions,” Williams wrote.

“As Managing Editor of NBC Nightly News, I have decided to take myself off of my daily broadcast for the next several days, and Lester Holt has kindly agreed to sit in for me to allow us to adequately deal with this issue,” he continued. “Upon my return, I will continue my career-long effort to be worthy of the trust of those who place their trust in us.”

NBC News President Deborah Turness sent out a memo Friday to alert staff of the temporary shakeup.

“This has been a difficult few days for all of us at NBC News,” Turness’ statement read. “Yesterday, Brian and I spoke to the Nightly News team. And this morning at the Editorial Exchange, we both addressed the wider group. Brian apologized once again, and specifically expressed how sorry he is for the impact this has had on all of you and on this proud organization.”

Williams came under fire last week when an Iraq War veteran called him out for falsely stating that he’d been in a helicopter that was shot down in Iraq during a tribute to another veteran. Soon, Williams admitted to conflating being in the helicopter that was attacked with merely hearing about the incident second-hand. Since then, new doubts have been raised about Williams’ first-hand accounts of Hurricane Katrina.