Other protestors wearing the same anti-Lochte shirts were also causing a ruckus in the audience. An image taken outside the studio after the disruption showed two men wearing T-shirts with the word Lochte written across them and crossed out.
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The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed the identity of the two men after being taken into custody. We could see on TV, plus in later unseen footage, that both Ryan and Cheryl Burke were visibly shaken up. “It felt like somebody just ripped it apart”.
On Thursday, USA Swimming and the United States Olympic Committee announced that Lochte had been suspended for 10 months from domestic and global competitions as punishment for lying about a supposed armed robbery at a gas station in Rio during the second week of the Olympics. He added: “I came out here, I wanted to do something I’m completely not comfortable with, and I did”.
Lochte was visibly shocked just before the show cut to commercial.
Finally, the finale for “So You Think You Can Dance: The Next Generation” (0.6) was up slightly versus last week, but with this awful theme we still question if the show really has good odds of being brought back for another run.
A noticeably rattled Lochte told the show’s host Tom Bergeron that he was OK except for some hurt feelings. He was referring to strong anti-Lochte sentiment, which has run deep after the swimmer admitted he “over-exaggerated” a tale about being robbed and held at gunpoint with three other swimmers after a party at the Rio Olympics.
“Lochte is a liar”, the man said.
After all the attention he has been receiving from the Olympics, his recent robbery scandal, and this latest development, it’s at least nice to know that Lochte is still the reigning champ of awful interviews after he simply responded to the whole event by saying, “I’m doing good”.
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HollywoodLifers, do you think he’ll dance this week? “I’ve changed and I want to become a better person”, he said. “This is insane.” Burke said she was “hurt” for Lochte and that she hoped people would give him a chance.
