Christopher Ryan Hardwick (born November 23, 1971) is an American comedian, actor, television and podcast host, writer, and producer. He hosts Talking Dead, an hourly aftershow on AMC affiliated with the network's zombie drama series The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead, as well as Talking with Chris Hardwick, a show in which Hardwick interviews prominent pop culture figures, and The Wall, a plinko-inspired gameshow on NBC. Hardwick created Nerdist Industries, operator of the Nerdist Podcast Network and home of his podcast The Nerdist Podcast, which later left the network and was renamed to ID10T with Chris Hardwick. His podcast has broadcast 1,000 episodes as of December 2019.
Hardwick originated the role of Stacee Jaxx in Rock of Ages during its premiere run in Los Angeles (2005–2006). In 2011, he began hosting the BBC America Britcom block Ministry of Laughs. From 2013 to 2017, he hosted @midnight with Chris Hardwick, a nightly comedy-game show series on Comedy Central. In 2013, he hosted Talking Bad, a live half-hour talk show on AMC following the final eight episodes of Breaking Bad. In 2016, he started to host Talking Saul for the Breaking Bad spin-off Better Call Saul. He is also known for performing with Mike Phirman in the musical comedy duo Hard 'n Phirm, as well as hosting Singled Out, Wired Science, and Web Soup, and providing the voice of Otis the Cow in Back at the Barnyard (replacing Kevin James).
In June 2018, Hardwick was accused of emotional and sexual abuse by his ex-girlfriend Chloe Dykstra. AMC suspended Hardwick from its shows while conducting an investigation. AMC concluded its investigation and allowed Hardwick to resume his positions in August 2018. Dykstra refused to participate in the investigation.