Speedo and three other companies just dropped their sponsorship of Olympic athlete, Ryan Lochte, and I find it very amusing.
Lochte thought he would get away with his reckless behavior while in Brazil for the Olympic games, which included vandalizing a gasoline station, trying to fight security guards and lying about being robbed at gunpoint by police, in a country that invited him in with open arms.
For those unaware of the current scandal involving the Olympic athlete — Lochte won a gold medal at the Rio Olympics, partied hard, got drunk, and according to Brazilian police, trashed a gas station restroom alongside three other American teammates.
The gas station owner claims the reason they damaged the bathroom was because the athletes were told to use it, instead of peeing on the gas station’s wall.
He and his teammates attempted to leave the station before getting into any altercation with the police, but ended up fighting security.
Lochte’s initial version of the incident involving the Brazilian authorities robbing him at gunpoint failed to mention any of those important details.
He, instead, decided to lie about the entire ordeal, saying: “The guy [Brazilian police officer] pulled out his gun, he cocked it, put it to my forehead and he said, ‘Get down.’ I put my hands up, I was like ‘whatever.’ He took our money, he took my wallet — he left my cell phone, he left my credentials.”
All was well for Lochte, who thought he would get away with his fabricated story – until Rio Civil Police released a surveillance video from the gas station showcasing exactly what went down that night. Not to mention, airport security detected his wallet when it entered the airport’s x-ray scanner.
Ryan Lochte is Cuban-American — yes — but let’s face the fact that he holds the white standard of beauty. He’s a white-passing person of color who has grown used to not facing any serious consequences for his actions.
Social media users took to twitter their frustration with Rio Olympics spokesman Mario Andrada’s comments on the situation. “No apologies from [Lochte] or other athletes are needed. We have to understand that these kids came here to have fun. Let’s give these kids a break,” Andrada said.
He’s 32 and no longer a “kid,” although he still might act like one.
The hashtag #LochteGate began circulating social media shortly after Andrada’s comments with an aim to expose Lochte’s white passing privilege.
One #Lochetgate tweet from user “gabebergardo”, which was retweeted thousands of times, read: “white privilege is going to a foreign country, peeing on a business’s floor & kicking in a door, & then saying you were robbed.”
I can’t help but compare how 20-year-old African American gymnast, Gabrielle Douglas, was treated for not placing her hand over her heart during the national anthem at the Olympics, to how Lochte’s situation was viewed.
Douglas was widely criticized by many social media users who deemed her “un-American,” while Lochte and his white pals were viewed as “kids.”
Twitter user “tmzanthony” who also contributed to the #LochteGate twitter trend shared his view of the situation: “Gabby Douglas was destroyed for hand placement. He pisses on a business and blames a country, and people are making excuses.”
Moreover, Lochte fought with authorities and didn’t get shot by them but according to Brazilian blog, Rio-in-a-week, he probably would have been if he were black. The blog writes, “Black Brazilians aged 12-18 years old are 3x as likely to be murdered as White Brazilians in the same age range,” by Brazilian police officers.
His blue eyes and light complexion really helped him stay alive that night in Brazil.
However, his sponsors have realized that what he did while visiting a foreign country was completely inappropriate, and they’re dropping him.
Not to mention The International Olympic Committee is considering disciplinary action against him and his three teammates.
Instead of having used his white passing privilege to take advantage of Brazil’s hospitality, Lochte and his teammates should have shown respect to a nation that was very thrilled to have had them visit.
Hearing Lochte apologize in an interview for Brazilian network, Globo, saying he is ‘110% sorry’ for his actions is relieving to me. Still, it only sounds honest because of the major sponsorships he’s lost.
Nonetheless, he is still getting the better end of the stick because he’s alive. If he would have been a black athlete, he might have lost more than just a few sponsorships.