On June 18,2015, Holt was made the permanent anchor of NBC Nightly News following the demotion of Brian Williams.
24 Facts About Lester Holt
2.
Lester Holt followed in the career footsteps of Max Robinson, an ABC News evening co-anchor, and Lester Holt became the first African-American to solo anchor a weekday network nightly newscast.
3.
Lester Holt was known for his moderation of the first presidential debate of 2016 and was praised by The Washington Post columnists for his role in fact-checking false statements.
4.
Lester Holt's maternal grandfather Canute DeRozario was a Jamaican Anglo-Indian from Spanish Town, and was one of 14 children of an Indo-Jamaican father from Calcutta, India, and a White English Jamaican mother from England.
5.
Lester Holt's father was African American from Michigan, with roots in Tennessee.
6.
Lester Holt graduated from Cordova High School in Rancho Cordova in 1977 and majored in government at California State University, Sacramento, though he never graduated, receiving an honorary degree in 2015.
7.
Lester Holt has received Doctorate in Humane Letters from Rutgers University in 2020 and Villanova University in 2023.
8.
Lester Holt spent 19 years with CBS, as a reporter, anchor, and international correspondent.
9.
Lester Holt became a full-time co-anchor of Weekend Today following the death of previous co-anchor David Bloom.
10.
On May 9,2007, Lester Holt was named anchor of the weekend edition of NBC Nightly News, anchoring the show for eight years before replacing Brian Williams as permanent anchor of the weekday edition.
11.
Lester Holt moderated a presidential debate in 2016, and interviewed President Donald Trump in 2017, where fellow journalists said that he asked tough but appropriate questions.
12.
When Brian Williams took medical leave in 2013 for knee replacement surgery, Lester Holt filled in as weekday anchor.
13.
In 2015, Williams was suspended for reportedly exaggerating a story about the Iraq War, and Lester Holt permanently replaced him as NBC Nightly News anchor.
14.
Lester Holt moderated the Democratic presidential candidates' debate in January 2016, alongside a panel of NBC political reporters, as well as the first presidential debate on September 26,2016.
15.
The Washington Post said "Kudos to Lester Holt" for making it clear that stop and frisk was ruled unconstitutional in New York, when Trump said it wasn't.
16.
In May 2017, when Lester Holt interviewed President Trump, they discussed Trump's firing of FBI director James Comey.
17.
Lester Holt appeared on the episode "Cleveland" of the NBC sitcom 30 Rock.
18.
Lester Holt did a voice-over in the episode "Sandwich Day," announcing that Jack Donaghy would be a new cabinet member in the Bush administration.
19.
Lester Holt announced the 2006,2007, and 2008 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show for the USA Network, and was featured in Making Music magazine.
20.
Lester Holt hosted the 2008 Sci-Fi Channel documentary Mystery of the Crystal Skulls.
21.
On May 31,2020, Lester Holt delivered a virtual commencement speech for the 254th graduating class of Rutgers University due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
22.
Stefan Lester Holt graduated in 2009 from Pepperdine University and was the morning news anchor at NBC-owned WMAQ-TV in Chicago.
23.
Lester Holt plays bass guitar and the upright bass and performs in the band Rough Cuts composed mostly of video editors from Dateline NBC.
24.
Lester Holt attends the Manhattan Church of Christ in New York.