Brian Williams is currently going through a six-month suspension after making false statements about being in a Chinook helicopter that was forced down by enemy fire during 2003’s U.S. invasion of Iraq, but the NBC Nightly News anchor’s controversial lie may have stemmed from his desire to leave NBC News and become a late-night comedian. According to an expose written by New York Magazine‘s Gabriel Sherman, Williams pitched himself to rival network CBS as David Letterman’s Tonight Show replacement last year, and constantly tried to remind NBC network heads about his ambitions beyond nightly news.

In the revealing expose, Sherman wrote that once NBC chose to move Jimmy Fallon over from Late Night to host The Tonight Show, Williams went to CBS Corp. president and CEO Les Moonves to pitch the possibility of him taking over Late Show from David Letterman. While CBS has yet to comment on this rumor, Williams’ interest in Late Show is evident from his 23 appearances on Letterman’s program since 1995.

NBC reportedly tried to appease Williams by giving him the weekly news program Rock Center, which Williams hoped would evolve into a variety hour, but the show was canceled after a mere two seasons.

“For years Brian Williams was known as the anchor man who could turn a joke,” wrote Sherman. “Brian Williams had hoped Rock Center would turn into a variety show. Instead it turned into a softer version of 60 Minutes.”

The Los Angeles Times asked Williams about the possibility of him moving to late-night last December, and while he acknowledged that he had had conversations about such a move, he stated that he didn’t see it happening.

“It’s so apples and oranges with what I do and my skill set,” he wrote in a Dec. 14 email to The Times. “While others have said flattering things about it and me and others have tried to pitch me on ideas — it’s one thing to make a guest appearance and it’s quite another to do the job of host sitting behind the desk.”