Update 9/12, 8:00 p.m.: Multiple sources now report two male protestors wearing shirts with a cross through Ryan Lochte’s name stormed the stage Monday, walking in front of host Tom Bergeron and yelling into the cameras.
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ABC News reporter Jason Nathanson showed a photo on Twitter of two men in anti-Lochte T-shirts in handcuffs.
LOS ANGELES (AP) The protesters who ambushed Ryan Lochte on “Dancing with the Stars” are defending their actions after being released from jail.
ABC did not immediately return messages seeking comment about the incident.
Dancer Cheryl Burke had finished her routine with the Olympian and were receiving the judges’ feedback when two men – identified as Sam Sotoodeh, 59, and Barzeen Soroudi, 25 – ran onto the dance floor sporting anti-Lochte t-shirts.
Lochte created an global incident during the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games when he lied about being robbed to cover up vandalism he and other members of the U.S. Olympic swim team allegedly committed at a gas station in Brazil.
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Sododeh and Soroudi, who were authorized guests (they apparently their shirts during the show) were charged with suspicion of trespassing.
Viewers of the show saw Inaba on one side of the screen, while on the other, images of Lochte and Burke’s dance were shown.
There was drama on the dance floor on the season premiere of “Dancing with the Stars”.
The athletes were subsequently sanctioned by United States swimming and Lochte was suspended for 10 months, meaning he will miss the 2017 World Championships.
The video is everywhere this morning of what you didn’t see live on air! Lochte added that he was “a little hurt, but I came out here”. Four or five other women were removed from the audience after chanting against Lochte.
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In a later interview with NBC’s Matt Lauer, Lochte said he “over-exaggerated that story”. “I’ve changed and I want to become a better person”, he said.
