Ryan Lochte has broken his silence on the incident that occurred during Monday’s episode of Dancing With the Stars, when two men rushed the stage after the disgraced Olympian’s performance.
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The network went on a commercial break, but the camera briefly showed Lochte and his dancing partner, Cheryl Burke, both appearing confused and agitated by the sudden demonstration.
“Dancing With the Stars” wanted to grab attention by including Ryan Lochte in its new season, but an incident with protesters making a disturbance after the disgraced USA swimmer’s first performance on Monday night’s show got Lochte’s stint off to an especially tense start.
After the break, host Tom Bergeron said there was an “incident” and thanked the show’s security for “staying in shape” and tackling and removing the protesters. The video also shows at least four others in the audience wearing anti-Lochte shirts. So far, the LAPD has charged Soroudi and Sotoodeh with misdemeanor trespassing, though ABC News has no other details at this time.
Share with Us – We’d love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article, and smart, constructive criticism. I’m human. I know that I’m not going to make that same mistake twice, and I’m going to keep going. They were removed following the incident.
And so protests began on night one of the show right after Lochte finished up his performance of the foxtrot with his partner Cheryl Burke.
“This is my home and I was just so shocked that people would come here and be so negative”, Hough told People magazine.
Lochte and teammates have seen scorn from some since they were involved in an early-morning drunken encounter during the Olympics last month at a gas station in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Lochte claimed that Rio police robbed him and put a gun to his head, but he recanted that story after police claimed it didn’t happen. Lochte eventually lost four of his sponsorships and was suspended from the Olympic team for ten months. “A little hurt. I came out here and I wanted to do something I was completely uncomfortable with, and I did”.
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A message at a number for Satoodeh was not immediately returned Tuesday.
