European TV and streaming firm Eurosport, owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, has dropped commentator Bob Ballard from its Olympics protection after an “inappropriate remark” that he made about members of Australia’s ladies’s swimming group went viral.
Ballard, commenting after the Australian feminine swim group received the gold medal within the 4×100 meter freestyle relay, mentioned the athletes, who had been celebrating collectively, had been late to depart the swimming venue as a result of “you recognize what ladies are like, hanging round, doing their make-up.”
His feminine colleague, commentator and former Olympian Lizzie Simmonds known as Ballard out for the remark. “Outrageous, Bob. A few of the males are doing that as nicely,” she quipped, prompting fun from Ballard. A 15-second clip of the feedback shortly went viral on social media. Ballard was dropped quickly afterward.
“Throughout a section of Eurosport’s protection [Sunday], commentator Bob Ballard made an inappropriate remark,” Eurosport mentioned in a press release. “To that finish, he has been faraway from our commentary roster with quick impact.”
Addressing the controversy on X (previously Twitter), Ballard mentioned it “was by no means my intention to upset or belittle anybody and, if I did, I apologize. I’m a large advocate of ladies’s sport. I shall miss the Eurosport group dearly and need all of them the perfect for the remainder of the Olympics.”
Ballard is a veteran reporter and sportscaster who’s coated the Olympics for a number of European retailers for many years, together with the BBC. Protecting Ballard’s dismissal, the British public broadcaster mentioned he “has been a stalwart of world sports activities protection for the reason that Eighties.”
The Parisian Olympics additionally got here below fireplace from some quarters for a scene from Friday’s glitzy opening ceremony. A efficiency, set in opposition to the backdrop of the river Seine that featured drag queens, a transgender mannequin and a singer costumed as Dionysus (the Greek god of wine), offended some spiritual viewers, who thought the act was mocking Leonardo da Vinci’s The Final Supper, an outline of Jesus and his disciples earlier than the crucifixion.
In an interview with French tv, Olympics creative director Thomas Jolly mentioned the concept had been to depict “a grand pagan pageant linked to the gods of Olympus” and that The Final Supper was not a reference.
Chatting with Reuters, Paris 2024 consultant Anne Descamps mentioned there was “by no means an intention to point out disrespect to any spiritual group. [The opening ceremony] tried to have a good time neighborhood tolerance…. We consider this ambition was achieved. If individuals have taken any offense, we’re actually sorry.”