NBC Resolves Leslie Jones Issue After She Threatened to Stop Live-Recapping The Olympics

NBC Resolves Leslie Jones Issue After She Threatened to Stop Live-Recapping The Olympics


After Leslie Jones announced her disappointment in NBC’s response to her well-received live recaps of the Olympic Games, the network has worked to rectify the issue.

On Tuesday, NBC Sports announced how they “resolved” the “error” that led to Jones’ Olympic recaps being blocked on social media, HuffPost reports.

“This was the result of a third-party error, and the situation has been resolved,” a network spokesperson said late Monday.

“She is free to do her social media posts as she has done in the past. She is a super fan of the Olympics, and we are super fans of her.”

The statement came after Jones became a trending topic on Monday when she took to social media to express her reluctance to continue her live recaps while suggesting NBC was actually the one “blocking” her commentary.

“I’m starting to feel like this should be my last olympics i live tweet,” Jones tweeted on Sunday. “I know I know, another celebrity bitching. But I’m tired of fighting the folks who don’t want me to do it.”

She also pointed out how “they” are attempting to block her videos and “get folks who think they can do it like me.” While responding to a fan, Jones confirmed the “they” she was referring to was NBC.

After swarms of fans started to call NBC out for seemingly not supporting Jones’ popular recaps, the network released a statement saying the Saturday Night Live alum could continue posting about the Olympic Games.

It looks like higher-ups were behind the initial snafu and not exactly NBC. The International Olympic Committee owns the Olympic broadcasting rights, NBC News reports. The network works to negotiate broadcasting rights with companies around the world. NBCUniversal had exclusive broadcasting rights for the Olympics’ U.S. audiences until 2032.

During the Summer Games in Tokyo last summer, the IOC cracked down on posting videos of the Games to social media. Even athletes were prevented from reposting videos.

“We encourage people, we encourage everybody, to share still pictures of performances, but the video obviously belongs to the rights-holding broadcasters,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams said last summer.


×