Protesters disrupt Lochte’s DWTS debut
Ryan Lochte has already hit a pothole on the first leg of his road to redemption.
Toward the tail end of Monday night’s season premiere of ABC’s Dancing With the Stars, which airs on CTV Two, the six-time Olympic gold medallist and his partner Cheryl Burke were startled when two men stormed the stage in protest of Lochte’s participation on the show.
Los Angeles police told ESPN they arrested Sam Sododeh, 48, and Barzeen Soroudi, 40, both of Los Angeles, on trespassing charges. The show is broadcast live from CBS Television City in Hollywood.
“You know, at that moment, I was really heartbroken,” Lochte told CNN. “My heart just sunk. It felt like somebody just ripped it apart.” But Lochte added he “had to brush it off.”
The 32-year-old swimmer’s debut on Dancing came just four days after he was ordered to forfeit $100,000 (U.S.) and a chance to swim at next year’s world championships as part of the penalty for his drunken encounter at a gas station in Brazil during last month’s Olympics. On Monday night, everything seemed to be going fine for Lochte. He and Burke had just finished a foxtrot set to Michael Bublé’s “Call Me Irresponsible,” a song choice that was a clear but winking nod to his actions in Rio.
“This is the place for second chances,” judge Carrie Ann Inaba said as she launched into her critique. She paused partway through, looking confused, then shouted, “Excuse me! Hey, back off!”
People Magazine reports that, unseen to viewers, one protester walked in front of host Tom Bergeron, and was tackled by security guards and pushed into Lochte, Burke and Bergeron.
According to ESPN, one of the suspects was heard saying, “We want to publicize that this is a bad decision to have a liar be publicized as a star,” before being taken away by police.
But the DWTS family seemed to be squarely on Lochte’s side Monday, with cast members offering words of support to Lochte. The Charlotte Observer
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