On 13 July 2018, AMC announced that longtime guest and fan favorite Yvette Nicole Brown would temporarily take over Chris Hardwick's role as host for Talking Dead (2011) beginning 5 August 2018 and the season 9 preview special.
The decision to replace Hardwick was made as AMC was completing it's investigations and assessments after Hardwick was accused of emotional and sexual misconduct by his ex-girlfriend Chloe Dykstra. On 25 July 2018, AMC announced that Hardwick would be reinstated as host beginning with the 12 August broadcast of People Like Us (2018). Brown would still guest host the 5 August broadcast, though.