Why don't you take a seat over there? Chris Hansen, the broadcast journalist who famously cornered alleged pedophiles for years on To Catch a Predator, is now a free agent.
NBC News confirms to The Hollywood Reporter that the Emmy-winning reporter's contract has not been renewed -- as first reported by TV Guide. Hansen's exit marks an end to a 20-year career with NBC. His time working as a correspondent included Dateline coverage of breaking news events such as the Oklahoma City bombing, the Columbine shootings, the Unabomber and the crash of TWA Flight 800.
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But in the wake of To Catch a Predator's conclusion and Dateline's move from breaking news to narrative murder mysteries and true crime, Hansen has seen his screen time diminished. NBC News also backed off on the controversial-but-popular Predator and its Dateline segments when the subject of one of its investigative pieces, in which Hansen interrogated sexual predators the show and watchdog group Perverted-Justice would find online, committed suicide during a taping.
NBC Universal ended up "amicably resolving” a $105-million lawsuit brought on by the man's sister.
Hansen, who could not immediately be reached for comment, is said to be moving on to hosting and producing projects that will be announced in the coming months. A seven-time Emmy winner and the recipient of four Edward R. Murrow Awards, among other accolades, Hansen was most recently the subject of a tabloid scandal focused on his personal life.
