As most of the internet knows, Al Roker doesn’t give a hoot about Ryan Lochte and his lies. He shut down Billy Bush ahead of the close of the Rio Olympics and really spoke for plenty of critics out there when he held Lochte to the fire over his robbery story. The problem is that there doesn’t seem to be many supporters back at NBC.
According to a report at Page Six, which typically means you should hold several grains of salt pretty tight, the producers and folks at Today were not very happy with Roker’s comments:
“There were several producers and talent who were left trying to explain Al’s over-the-top behavior,” said a source. “Several insiders found themselves wanting to distance themselves from his response.”
“It was a great thing to watch online, but a lot of NBC staff thought that he took it way too far for something that, while it was certainly a legitimate issue and certainly bad behavior by Lochte, outrage to that level just wasn’t justified.”
Al Roker took it too far. Of all people to take it to far, Al Roker is not at the top of my list. Not to mention, saying Ryan Lochte lied about the robbery in Rio isn’t exactly the most insane opinion to have on the situation. Luckily, in a follow-up, a faceless NBC executive provided Page Six with a statement:
“This is not true. No one feels this way. In fact, everyone here is happy — specifically with the ‘Today’ show’s great ratings.”
There’s a fine way to reply to all of this and I think Al Roker has already demonstrated it:
