Ryan Lochte is feeling the fallout from the Lochte melee in Rio de Janeiro. Apparently, Ryan’s apologies for his actions in Brazil weren’t enough for sponsors like Speedo and Ralph Lauren to keep Lochte. As seen in the below video from NBC News, Ryan sat down with Matt Lauer and appeared to become upset when Matt asked Lochte about watching Ryan’s teammates, Gunner Bentz and Jack Conger, being forced to remain in Brazil while Lochte went back to the U.S.
As reported by BuzzFeed, Speedo USA announced that they were dropping Lochte because they could not condone the behavior that Ryan displayed in Brazil. Lochte’s antics were called counter to the values that Speedo displays.
Ryan, meanwhile, has issued a mea culpa for his actions, which initially included a story in which Lochte told the press he was held at gunpoint by robbers who placed a gun to his temple. Lochte said that he and his teammates were pulled over to the side of the road while riding in a taxi and were robbed of their possessions.
However, security footage seemed to contradict some of Lochte’s claims. Eventually, Lochte came clean and admitted that he was inebriated,as Ryan told Matt in the above video, and he didn’t clearly remember everything he did at the gas station that was at the center of the incident.
Lochte said he exaggerated his first report of what really happened that night.
It was such a hotly debated scandal that Al Roker and Billy Bush got into an argument over whether Ryan flat out lied or if he embellished the truth.
Roker was insistent that Lochte left his teammates hanging while Billy seemed to want to go easier on Lochte by saying he stretched the truth, as seen in the following video.
As reported by Newser, Lochte’s bad press and untruthful actions are costing Ryan a pretty penny. Not only did Ryan have sponsorship deals with Speedo and Ralph Lauren, but he also has a sponsorship with the Marriott hotel chain.
Lochte’s lucrative sponsorship deals also include Airweave and if all of Ryan’s sponsorship companies were to drop him like Speedo and Ralph Lauren have done, Ryan could be out of as much as $10 million in sponsorship money, as reported by US Weekly.
[Photo by Mark J. Terrill/AP Images]As a result of Lochte being dropped by Ralph Lauren and Speedo, Ryan’s name is getting a bunch of reactions on Twitter. Some of those reactions feature people writing comments that Ryan didn’t seem sincere in his interview with Matt, with folks noting that Lochte’s sniffing did not seem to be accompanied by real tears. Viewers did notice that Ryan’s hair was dyed back to a darker and more serious-looking color for his interview with Matt.
More fallout from Ryan’s experience featured videos like the following, in which John Oliver joked about saying goodbye to the antics of the “entitled” Lochte.
Warning: The below video contains language that might be offensive to some viewers.
https://youtu.be/1OBAmvOLlm0
More reactions on social media to Ryan being dropped by Ralph Lauren and Speedo can be read below.
“He even dyed his hair back to normal to seem more serious LOL.”
“Fake, fake, fake..”
“He looks like he’s trying to cry, probably thinking about all those sponsors he’s about to lose.”
“Why is everyone treating him like he’s some kid? But black kids at ages 14-17 are tried as adults SMH.”
[Photo by Michael Sohn/AP Images]“Blinkin’ a lot there, Ryan. You didn’t let your team down, you let your nation down.””Lochte was caught in three lies during the final Matt Lauer interview. That’s why he is getting dumped today.”
[Photo by Kathy Willens/AP Images]
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