Is NBC Really Upset With Al Roker Over His Ryan Lochte Rant?

NBC is reportedly not impressed with Al Roker’s rant about Ryan Lochte after the swimming champion made up a robbery story while in Rio for the Olympics. Apparently, a few people associated with the Today show are embarrassed by the way Roker went off after Lochte claimed to have been held at gunpoint only to find out that he was covering for his own drunken stupidity while attending the Rio Olympics.

Page Six reported that Al Roker’s rant with Billy Bush had NBC executives up in arms.

Roker said in the now-viral dialog, “He lied. He lied to you, he lied to Matt Lauer, he lied to his mom, he left his teammates hanging while he skedaddled.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ros87CE7Fsc

The report claims that Today executives are upset at Roker’s rant and have been complaining because it has made their job of covering the Rio Olympic Games even more strained than it already was. They claim that in the aftermath of what Al Roker said on-air, their relationship with the U.S. Olympic Committee has been harder to maintain as well as with the individual athletes.

“There were several producers and talent who were left trying to explain Al’s over-the-top behavior,” said a Page Six source. “Several insiders found themselves wanting to distance themselves from his response.”

It looks like there may be dueling opinions at NBC, though, because the gossip site posted the response of another unnamed NBC executive that had quite the opposite to say about Al Roker’s Ryan Lochte rant.

They said, “This is not true. No one feels this way. In fact, everyone here is happy — specifically with the Today show’s great ratings.”

He did not hold back one single bit https://t.co/3l95zatU8B

— Huffington Post (@HuffingtonPost) August 20, 2016

On Monday, Al Roker and Billy Bush revisited the subject of Ryan Lochte, where they explained the back and forth that took place the previous Friday on the Today show. Bush said that he was tasked with playing the “devil’s advocate” for Lochte during Roker’s on-screen tirade, and both men reminded viewers that they are friends. There never was a fight over whether Ryan Lochte was wrong or right.

Roker and Bush went back and forth about whether Ryan Lochte was lying or embellishing. During the debate, Billy Bush claimed that Lochte may have just been confused because a security guard was there demanding payment from Lochte and wouldn’t let him leave. Bush said that could have been misconstrued as being held at gunpoint because of the language barrier. Al Roker held strong to his point that Lochte was lying to cover his own behind. Not only that, but when Brazilian police began looking into the incident and wanting to hold the swimmers responsible, Ryan Lochte took off and left his teammates to deal with the aftermath.

“This is what we do on this show,” Al said. “I think because this is such a big deal, I think people were paying more attention to it.”

NBC reportedly upset with Al Roker’s Ryan Lochte outburst https://t.co/WSMM3Cn1uF pic.twitter.com/esSBYlkp7S

— HuffPostEnt (@HuffPostEnt) August 25, 2016

Ryan Lochte has since apologized for his behavior in Rio de Janiero and even called his gas station stunt “immature” and “childish.” In the wake of Lochte’s armed robbery claims, the Olympic gold medalist swimmer has lost multiple sponsorships, including a large one with Speedo.

It was initially believed that NBC executives may have been in a precarious position based on the network’s affiliation with the Olympic Committee and their airing of the Rio Olympics. It’s looking like the network may not really be all that upset at Al Roker, though. It turns out the Today host’s rant did them a huge ratings favor, and many viewers were in agreement with the point Roker made about Ryan Lochte’s behavior in Rio.

Check out the clip of Al Roker going off on Ryan Lochte’s behavior at the Rio Olympics while Billy Bush tries to explain it away. Do you agree with Roker or Bush about Lochte’s story of being held at gunpoint? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below.

[Photo by Harry How/Getty Images]