Brian Williams is a step farther along on the road to redemption, it seems.
The anchor made a return to the NBC upfronts on Monday after a four-year absence from the all-important annual event of pitching to potential advertisers.
The onetime “Nightly News” anchor was forced to leave the desk in 2015 after it was revealed that he’d embellished stories with fictional details — and was sent to the relative Siberia of 11 p.m. on MSNBC.
But in February, Page Six reported that Williams had made his “11th Hour With Brian Williams” show a legit hit, beating CNN’s and Fox News’ ratings for three months straight.
We also reported that he could be in line for an early-evening time slot.
A source told us that Williams will front MSNBC’s 2020 presidential election coverage alongside Rachel Maddow.
And the network put Williams front and center at the upfronts, sending him onstage at Radio City Music Hall with his “Nightly News” replacement, Lester Holt, and Maddow.
“Wow, they brought [Williams] out,” whispered one surprised audience member.
Meanwhile, Seth Meyers took a cheeky jab at their employer at his own upfront presentation — making fun of the “Today” show’s notorious habit of booting its talent.
The “Late Night” host told a crowd of media insiders, “Kathie Lee Gifford left the ‘Today’ show after 11 years [in April]. Fun fact: She’s the first person to ever leave the ‘Today’ show willingly.”
He kidded that the morning fixture’s motto used to be “The ‘Today’ show: Security will show you out.”
In the past few years, “Today” has ignominiously ejected anchors Megyn Kelly, Matt Lauer, Billy Bush and Ann Curry.