Lochte Protest Drama on the Dancefloor

by **Psychee22** Tue Sep 13, 2016 9:46 am

This was quite a night, wasn't it? Two men and four women waited until Lochte finished dancing to remove their outer shirts and reveal T-shirts with a crossed red circle over the name LOCHTE and start a protest.

The two men left their seats, crossed the dance floor from the other side and approached the judge table, yelling "Liar!" while Carrie Ann was giving Lochte feedback for his Foxtrot.

As the first man got about four feet away from the table, a security guard ran across the floor, low, in front of the camera, and tackled him, pushing him toward Cheryl and Lochte before he managed to get him down. He then turned him over and cuffed him.

Simultaneously, the second man was still approaching the table as another security guard grabbed him and frog marched him away.

Also, simultaneously, as seen in the Red Room feed, Derek Hough bolted out of the red room seemingly before anyone else in the room noticed anything going wrong downstairs. [In interview later he said that he had just felt a sudden bad change in the energy of the room]. He apparently then marshaled a second crew of security guys, to confront the four women who were still in the back of the seat area, yelling "Liar, Liar". He is seen below moving swiftly to confront them, yelling at them to take their negativity elsewhere that this is a positive place and no place for this kind of behavior. The women did not stay to argue as security moved them out, and the audience applauded.

Red room recordings also show Maks quickly leaving the Red room a few seconds or so after Derek left, and he made a beeline to Peta to protect her. She had been sitting nearby the fracas.

The men were turned over to the police who arrested them. Their defense was that they were protesting that a man who lied was being treated like a star. They also seemed to believe that Lochte had somehow endangered the lives of his Olympic team mates. Both men were born in Los Angeles.

At home, all we saw was Carrie Ann's reaction to the first guy approaching the table. Quick on the mark, the video controllers covered the rest of the view with replay from Lochte's dance. Then we heard Tom say that they were going to commercial.

Given that this was the first time anything like this has ever happened on the show, I tip my hat at their professionalism. With no time to think, everybody on the show seemed to rise to the occasion to protect it.

Some news coverage video below:

by **LadyMustang65** Tue Sep 13, 2016 11:04 am

Good recap of what happened. I am not normally a fan of Derek Hough, but he gets all kinds of mad props from me for going out there to confront those women. I am very disappointed in the protestors. That is simply not the kind of show for that kind of action. This is not the first time the show has had as a guest someone who has something unsavory in their past who are looking for a second chance. Yes, it's not normally this soon, but Ryan had been invited and agreed to do the show before the Olympics. Lochte's actions have gotten him swift and severe punishment. It has literally cost him millions. Time to let him learn from his mistake and move on. JMHO anyway.

by **Lesallee** Tue Sep 13, 2016 11:38 am

I'm thinking those protestors have likely ensured Ryan Lochte's continued presence on the show for much longer than he would have stayed without them. I felt sorry for him and I won't be alone with that sentiment.

Cheryl was angry and an angry Cheryl will fight back with all she's got so Ryan better be prepared to work his butt off.

by **SLA44** Tue Sep 13, 2016 11:57 am

Thank you Psychee22 for posting that video ~ I did not see GMA this morning and glad that the video showed what actually happened last night. I wasn't aware of what Derek had done either and my hats off to him and he was right in what he told those women.

by **Psychee22** Tue Sep 13, 2016 2:05 pm

Apparently, Derek was still so worked up over this when he got home that he recorded a snapchat comment. I haven't figured out how to get the embed codes from instagrams to post here, but I did find his snapchat inside a YouTube video. The video below starts with a recording that was made from a People Magazine reporter with his phone (others can't bring phones in), and then Derek's comments start:

by **peebeeb** Tue Sep 13, 2016 2:18 pm

Thanks for posting this. I was trying to find full coverage of the whole thing and am glad that security took care of it along with Derek.

This is not the place for something like that and good grief there are so many worse things going on in this country and the world right now.

I've never been abig fan of Ryan Lochte, and that goes back to way before the Olympics, however, I thought he did a decent job dancing last night and got a vote from me.

Besides who in life hasn't effed up in some way or another? Lord knows I've made my share of mistakes big and small.

by **Psychee22** Tue Sep 13, 2016 3:11 pm

Peebob, if you are looking for more coverage, there is a terrific video that shows the four All-Access cameras in sync during the incident-- that's where you can see what is happening in the Red Room at the same time as things went amok on the dance floor.

Find it, as well as lots more videos from this week here:

http://hesaid-shesaid-otp.tumblr.com

by **SLA44** Tue Sep 13, 2016 3:17 pm

peebeeb wrote:Thanks for posting this. I was trying to find full coverage of the whole thing and am glad that security took care of it along with Derek.

This is not the place for something like that and good grief there are so many worse things going on in this country and the world right now.

I've never been abig fan of Ryan Lochte, and that goes back to way before the Olympics, however, I thought he did a decent job dancing last night and got a vote from me.

Besides who in life hasn't effed up in some way or another? Lord knows I've made my share of mistakes big and small.

I whole heatedly agree with peebeeb and also my thanks to Psychee22 again for also posting this. I'm glad you gave him a vote peebeeb.

by **BAL91182** Tue Sep 13, 2016 7:12 pm

Sure hope this was not a publicity stunt!

by **SLA44** Tue Sep 13, 2016 9:52 pm

BAL this time I really believe it was not - it left Ryan Lochte shaken and I don't think that was an act - I could see it in his eyes and the fact that the two men were arrested tells me it wasn't planned by ABC.

by **peebeeb** Tue Sep 13, 2016 10:35 pm

The fear looked real to me.

My sister and I were discussing this and our own screw ups throughout our lives. Some of them when we were old enough to know better too. Very Happy

Life is a continual learning and hopefully growing experience.

I'm not the same person I was at his age and I doubt he will be too.

The simple truth is that in this screwed up world, there are far more important things to worry about.

/rambling

by **kincaid53** Tue Sep 13, 2016 10:40 pm

BAL91182 wrote:Sure hope this was not a publicity stunt!

    I hope it wasn't either and at the time I didn't think it was. The protesters were allegedly charged with trespassing. I guess for going out onto the dance floor. You could see it on all access. I was wondering why they did not stop him when he first entered the dance floor. The first thing I saw was a camera crew appear from the sidelines close in to capture it all. That...was the first response. He was able to get right up to the judges, Tom and Cheryl and Ryan. On GMA they made it clear he did not touch anyone. Why the football tackle.
      Then I remembered Psychee saying "Why can't we agree the show does what it does to make money for themselves and that's the end of it."   I responded to Psychee that I agreed, but it would probably not be the end of it.
         Then I also remembered in the US magazine article that Derek said he got in trouble for taking a rehearsal tape out and destroying it, because his celeb had a really bad meltdown and he was not going to let them use that tape of her and someone be portrayed in that light. Good for you Derek and you showed that same respect for your cast member Ryan with what you did last night.
          Once again I hope it wasn't, but Psychee made a very good point. I guess we may never know.

by **Psychee22** Tue Sep 13, 2016 10:46 pm

From People Magazine, Cheryl's perspective during and after attack.

Ryan and his mother trying to apologize to her for the upset.

by **kincaid53** Tue Sep 13, 2016 11:04 pm

Psychee22 wrote:From People Magazine, Cheryl's perspective during and after attack.

Ryan and his mother trying to apologize to her for the upset.

Thanks, I went over to see that. I saw where Ryans ankle got injured when the security guy tackled the protester and knocked into Ryan and Cheryl. Just didn't think that was necessary, but I wasn't in the ballroom so i'm sure everyone did what they thought needed to be done

by **Psychee22** Tue Sep 13, 2016 11:43 pm

kincaid53 wrote:
BAL91182 wrote:Sure hope this was not a publicity stunt!

    I hope it wasn't either and at the time I didn't think it was. The protesters were allegedly charged with trespassing. I guess for going out onto the dance floor. You could see it on all access. I was wondering why they did not stop him when he first entered the dance floor. The first thing I saw was a camera crew appear from the sidelines close in to capture it all. That...was the first response. He was able to get right up to the judges, Tom and Cheryl and Ryan. On GMA they made it clear he did not touch anyone. Why the football tackle.
      Then I remembered Psychee saying "Why can't we agree the show does what it does to make money for themselves and that's the end of it."   I responded to Psychee that I agreed, but it would probably not be the end of it.
         Then I also remembered in the US magazine article that Derek said he got in trouble for taking a rehearsal tape out and destroying it, because his celeb had a really bad meltdown and he was not going to let them use that tape of her and someone be portrayed in that light. Good for you Derek and you showed that same respect for your cast member Ryan with what you did last night.
          Once again I hope it wasn't, but Psychee made a very good point. I guess we may never know.

I think you have to separate out planned versus unplanned stuff. The planned stuff is for ratings. But this was definitely not planned and not a publicity stunt. My lord, there are even reports that Disney Derek was heard dropping publicly heard F-bombs. I don't think he has done that in 10 years.

To explain what happened.... Tom Bergeron told folks that there is so much noise and activity in his periphery normally (which he has trained himself to ignore) that he wasn't even aware of the intruder to the dance floor until Carrie Ann's face registered panic. And by then, the guy was four feet away from the table.

Security tackled the first guy to the ground because (1) they had to abruptly change the man's trajectory and (2) he could have had a concealed weapon and be one-half second away from killing someone. Security guys function to eliminate threats-- and to hit fast and evaluate later. He did right.

It is possible that the protesters started out trying to get attention from the sidelines with their chants but when they found that they were ignored, the guys tried to get in front of the camera.

New information has also come out about the protesters. They are Iranian-Americans who were in Brazil during the Olympics. As Americans,they were embarrassed by the Lochte scandal while there and felt that the Brazilians treated them poorly afterward and threatened them as a result of Lochte. I don't know much about the Persian culture, but from what little I do know about them, I suspect that they felt some kind of cultural imperative to redress what they perceived as an injury to their reputation in Brazil, feeling like they had been personally shamed. This protest may have been their culturally acceptable means of saving face.

I also think we can assume that they have money, as one can't get to the Olympics (as a tourist) without it. Perhaps they greased someone's pocket to get in? They were not sitting in seats. They were standing behind the seats. What we do know is that they wore appropriate clothes getting in but that the special T-shirts were worn under them. They just took off the outer layer when they started their chanting.

BUT... all that said? In the short term, this HAS worked out in Ryan's favor. The public has had a moment to feel what it is like to be him right now, under this kind of public onslaught, and now there are more of them who want to invest in making things a bit better for him and give him another chance at redemption. It might give him a few more weeks on the show.

He is also now experiencing what it is like to have all his fellow cast members circle the wagons to protect him. That has to feel surreal to him.

So some of the lemons have been made into Lemonade for him. Not because it was planned, but rather, because there are a lot of very benevolent-hearted people on the show and in the audience who get no fun out of seeing people in pain.

by **SLA44** Tue Sep 13, 2016 11:49 pm

^^^^ Very Good Post Psychee22!!!

by **Psychee22** Wed Sep 14, 2016 12:13 am

Thanks, SLA44.

by **SLA44** Wed Sep 14, 2016 1:12 am

Psychee22 wrote:Thanks, SLA44.

by **singlyme** Wed Sep 14, 2016 7:17 am

peebeeb wrote:The fear looked real to me.

My sister and I were discussing this and our own screw ups throughout our lives. Some of them when we were old enough to know better too.

Life is a continual learning and hopefully growing experience.

I'm not the same person I was at his age and I doubt he will be too.

The simple truth is that in this screwed up world, there are far more important things to worry about.

/rambling

Amen to this! Personally, there are many things I should have done differently. I look back now and wonder how I could have been so stupid.

by Dazz Wed Sep 14, 2016 8:21 am

peebeeb wrote:The fear looked real to me.

My sister and I were discussing this and our own screw ups throughout our lives. Some of them when we were old enough to know better too.

Life is a continual learning and hopefully growing experience.

I'm not the same person I was at his age and I doubt he will be too.

The simple truth is that in this screwed up world, there are far more important things to worry about.

/rambling

Amen! He screwed up and admitted it later. To me, he is still a kid and bound to make more mistakes. Let it go people!

by Guest Wed Sep 14, 2016 1:51 pm

by **SLA44** Wed Sep 14, 2016 2:19 pm

Rose Mary he was signed to be on the show before the Olympics so he was going to compete on DWTS before the dumb mistake or whatever you want to call it happened in Rio. He has paid dearly for that mistake and I do think he realizes what a dumb thing it was to do. Besides being banned from US swimming for 10 months, losing $100K for his gold medal and $$$$$$$ from sponsors he also reimbursed the guy that had been left in Rio and charged a fine (I believe it was $11,100) so I am willing to give him a chance on this show. I understand where you are coming from but what happened Monday night was just wrong IMO.

by **BAL91182** Wed Sep 14, 2016 3:22 pm

SLA44 wrote:Rose Mary he was signed to be on the show before the Olympics so he was going to compete on DWTS before the dumb mistake or whatever you want to call it happened in Rio. He has paid dearly for that mistake and I do think he realizes what a dumb thing it was to do. Besides being banned from US swimming for 10 months, losing $100K for his gold medal and $$$$$$$ from sponsors he also reimbursed the guy that had been left in Rio and charged a fine (I believe it was $11,100) so I am willing to give him a chance on this show. I understand where you are coming from but what happened Monday night was just wrong IMO.

I agree. He definitely does not deserve to be harassed or attacked. He made a douchbag move, apologized for it, and is now trying to move on and rehab his image. I hope people will let it go as well, and give him the opportunity to change.

by **kincaid53** Wed Sep 14, 2016 4:23 pm

Waiting for next season would not have worked for dwts, they want him fresh in the midst of controversy. Think about it, American Sweetheart Olympian Laurie ...................and Bad Boy Olympian Ryan on the same season , even having him dance right before her(makes me go hmmm Thinking

) ........dwts loves this and viewers eat it up.

by **MPchimesin** Wed Sep 14, 2016 4:27 pm

Just want to chime in here, I look back at things I have done in my YOUNGER YEARS, and if I could I would kick myself in the A$$ for some of the stupid things I have done.....the saying with age comes wisdom is a true fact at least in my life......We are all Human!

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