blank new tab page

[rebron]

Description

Blank new tab page, should not be blank. Likely introduced with this PR:
brave/brave-core#5097

Steps to Reproduce

1. Open New Tab page with normal window. Notice that it's blank

Actual result:

Expected result:

Should see usual New Tab Page.

Reproduces how often:

Easily for effected profiles (likely older profiles, Top Sites related).

Brave version (brave://version info)

Version/Channel Information:

• Can you reproduce this issue with the current release? Possible. Seen in 1.7.80 but blank ntp with 1.7.x could be a different issue.
• Can you reproduce this issue with the beta channel? No, even though on 1.8.70 so due to a profile.
• Can you reproduce this issue with the dev channel? 1.8.68
• Can you reproduce this issue with the nightly channel? 1.9.x No, but again likely profile specific

Other Additional Information:

• Does the issue resolve itself when disabling Brave Shields? n/a
• Does the issue resolve itself when disabling Brave Rewards?n/a
• Is the issue reproducible on the latest version of Chrome? n/a

Miscellaneous Information:

Not related to previous Empty NTP issue #8867

[kjozwiak]

Adding release-notes/exclude as this hasn't made it into release yet.

[kjozwiak]

@rebron mind checking this one we get a new 1.8.x now that brave/brave-core#5224 was approved and merged?

[kjozwiak]

Labeling as QA/No as discussed before. We currently don't have STR that reproduces this 100%. Lets keep an eye on 1.8.x to make sure this doesn't happen/appear again.

@rebron @karenkliu confirmed that they're not seeing this problem anymore.