#MeToo movement hits the Olympics

The #MeToo movement and the Olympic movement were bound to intersect this month. They did so in a big way Tuesday.

One of the most popular Winter Olympians in history, Shaun White, was riding a high from winning his third gold medal in snowboarding when — after the victory — he was asked about a sexual-harassment lawsuit that he settled out of court.

In a moment worthy of the White House or the NFL for its evasiveness, White responded, “I’m here to talk about the Olympics, not gossip.” The news conference was soon shut down by a USOC press officer. Some in the news conference noted that the press officer did not call on female reporters who had their hands raised.

White, 31, later apologized on the “Today” show for calling the lawsuit “gossip.” White, who is said to be worth somewhere between $20 million and $40 million, settled it in May.

The allegations in the suit, filed by the former drummer in his rock band, Bad Things, are gross. Lena Zawaideh alleged that White had sent her “sexually explicit and graphic” text messages, which he admitted to sending. Zawaideh said White forced her to watch pornography and dress provocatively, that the behavior had lasted many years and got worse after White failed to medal in Sochi in 2014, when he was 27.

The Bay Area had its #MeToo Olympic creepiness as well. Patrick Connor, the KNBR personality who also co-hosts a SiriusXM radio show for vulgar Barstool Sports, seemed to be living in a vacuum — isolated from this moment in time — when he began talking about 17-year-old snowboarder Chloe Kim.

“That’s what I like about them high school girls,” Connor said, adding, “If she was 18, you wouldn’t be ashamed to say that she’s a little hot piece of ass.”

Connor later apologized on Twitter for his comments that he described as “more than inappropriate … they were lame and gross.” He called himself a “total idiot.” On Wednesday, KNBR fired him.

There are a lot of “total idiots” — and that’s a generous description for some — who no longer are going to be given a free pass because they can land back-to-back 1440s in the halfpipe or because they try to explain that they were just “joking.”

#MeToo arrived on Day 4 of the Olympics. It’s sure to surface again before the flame is extinguished.