'Maybe he misremembered': Manager at the five-star hotel where Brian Williams' stayed during Hurricane Katrina rubbishes his claims about seeing dead bodies and being in danger

  • The manager at the Ritz-Carlton where Williams' was based during Hurricane Katrina has rubbished several of his claims about his stay 
  • Myra DeGersdorff denies that her hotel was 'overrun' by gangs as Williams has repeatedly claimed since
  • She also said it is unlikely that he could have seen a body floating in the French Quarter since the area experienced very little flooding 
  • 'I'm not going to judge him, because it was such an unpleasant week… And when there is that kind of concern you can misremember,' she said
  • Williams is currently off the air after he admitted to lying about being hit by enemy fire in Iraq in 2003

By David Mccormack For Dailymail.com

Published: 09:37 EST, 10 February 2015 | Updated: 12:49 EST, 10 February 2015

The manager at the New Orleans hotel where Brian Williams was camped out during Hurricane Katrina in 2005 has poured cold water on the version of events that the NBC News anchor has been retelling in recent years.

Currently off the air after he admitted to lying about being hit by enemy fire in Iraq in 2003, a number of Williams' other seemingly  outlandish claims over the years are now coming under increased scrutiny.

Serious questions have been raised about the credibility of his claim that he saw a body or bodies in the floodwaters of New Orleans' French Quarter, an area that experienced very little flooding.

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Brian Williams' recollections of his time in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina has had further scorn poured on it by the manager of the hotel where he stayed back in 2005

Brian Williams' recollections of his time in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina has had further scorn poured on it by the manager of the hotel where he stayed back in 2005

Myra DeGersdorff, manager of the Ritz-Carlton in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, has rubbished Williams' claims that his life was in danger and that the hotel was 'overrun' by gangs

Now the manager of the five-star Ritz-Carlton where Williams was staying at the time has spoken out to rubbish claims repeatedly made by Williams in the years since.

'Maybe he misremembered,' Myra DeGersdorff told The Washington Post.

'I'm not going to judge him, because it was such an unpleasant week and there were times to be concerned. … And when there is that kind of concern you can misremember. 

'And maybe he was out there, and it wasn't impossible he could have encountered a body, but I don't think it was in the French Quarter. The French Quarter only got inches of flooding.'

DeGersdorff recollections – backed up by numerous other New Orleans residents – contrast sharply with Williams' story.

'When you look out of your hotel room window in the French Quarter and watch a man float by face down, when you see bodies that you last saw in Banda Aceh, Indonesia and swore to yourself that you would never see in your country...I beat that storm. I was there before it arrived.

Williams' reporting from New Orleans received countless plaudits and helped earn NBC a Peabody Award but is now being reevaluated with some skepticism following his Iraq war story climb down 

'I rode it out with people who later died in the Superdome,' he said in an interview in 2006, just a year after the hurricane. 

DeGersdorff, who was awarded the Ritz-Carlton President's Award for her handling of the hurricane, also denies claims that Williams repeated in an interview with Tom Brokaw last year in which he claimed gangs had 'overrun' the hotel.

'There absolutely was looting in the French Quarter,' DeGersdorff recalled. 'But I wouldn't say they were gangs. … They were primarily individual looters or two or three buddies attempting to break into camera stores; it was unpleasant.' 

She said 'on more than one occasion,' the looters tried to get inside. At one point, they did 'breach a door,' but were 'immediately' chased out. There were 'maybe one or two of them,' she said.

Williams also told his version of events to historian Douglas Brinkley for his 2007 book, The Great Deluge. 

FACT OR FICTION? THE STORIES OF BRIAN WILLIAMS THAT HAVE CAUSED MANY TO QUESTION HIS CREDIBILITY

Currently off the air after he admitted to lying about being hit by enemy fire in Iraq, a number of Williams' other seemingly outlandish claims are currently coming under increased scrutiny

Currently off the air after he admitted to lying about being hit by enemy fire in Iraq, a number of Williams' other seemingly outlandish claims are currently coming under increased scrutiny

Red Bank, New Jersey, 1970s

In a 2011 interview Brian Williams recalled his time as a teenage volunteer firefighter during which he saved a puppy. However in a 2005 Esquire interview, Williams had claimed to save not one but two puppies.

In the same Esquire interview Williams also revealed that he had been mugged at gunpoint while selling Christmas trees in the sleepy New Jersey town in which he grew up. 

A number of locals have questioned the credibility of his claim that someone ‘stuck a .38-caliber in my face.’

Iraq War, 2003

Over the years Williams has told multiple versions of a story about being in an army Chinook during the Iraq War in 2003. 

Last month he claimed his helicopter was hit by ground fire, an allegation he was later forced to admit was false after an outcry from soldiers who were present. 

Williams issued an on air apology. ‘Nobody's trying to steal anyone's valor,’ he wrote on Facebook.

Hurricane Katrina, 2005

Williams has told several stories about his experiences reporting from New Orleans. 

He has claimed to have seen a dead body float past the window of his hotel in the city's French Quarter – even though the area wasn't flooded. 

The accuracy of other Katrina claims, including that he caught dysentery drinking the floodwaters and that his hotel was ‘overrun’ with gangs, have been called into question by others who were there.

Israel, 2006

In a 2007 interview with Fairfield University Student Television, Williams recalled ‘Katyusha rockets passing just underneath the helicopter I was riding in.’ 

In fact he was nowhere near enemy fire and in a broadcast segment filmed that day he described a helicopter under fire a distance away.

Boston, 2006

A navy vet has accused Williams of lying to skip an event honoring members of the armed forces so that he could appear on Saturday Night Live. 

On the day of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society event the NBC News anchor told organizers that a 'pressing engagement' meant he wouldn't be able speak at the dinner, but later that evening he appeared in a walk-on role on SNL's Weekend Update.

Williams' claim that he caught dysentery from drinking floodwaters while reporting on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005 has also been rubbished 

Williams' claim that he caught dysentery from drinking floodwaters while reporting on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005 has also been rubbished 

According to Brinkley, Williams told him that 'armed gangs had broken into the 527-room hotel, brandishing guns and terrorizing guests. 

'Williams, in fact, had seen his first corpse floating down Canal Street from his eighth-floor window earlier that day. Then fever consumed him.'

DeGersdorff also questions Williams' claim about suffering dysentery and recalls that the anchor turned down the offer of medication that she had stockpiled in advance of the storm.

'He may have simply misremembered. But I can tell you no one broke out in the hotel with dysentery,' she said.

Katrina occurred just months after Williams replaced Tom Brokaw as NBC News' anchor and his reporting from the devastation received countless plaudits and helped earn NBC a Peabody Award.

In their face-to-face interview last year Brokaw had praised his replacement, saying that with his reporting during Katrina that Williams 'took ownership, if you will, of the anchor chair'.

In their face-to-face interview last year Tom Brokaw had praised his replacement, saying that with his reporting during Katrina Williams gad 'took ownership, if you will, of the anchor chair' 

In their face-to-face interview last year Tom Brokaw had praised his replacement, saying that with his reporting during Katrina Williams gad 'took ownership, if you will, of the anchor chair' 

 

 

 

 

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