It’s no secret the 2022 Winter Olympics have been mired in controversy. NBC has awkwardly tried to stay in the neutral zone on COVID-19, human rights and IOC corruption, but the one issue the network apparently felt it had to take a stand on was...Leslie Jones.
Yes, Supermarket Sweep host and one-time Saturday Night Live cast member Leslie Jones, who just so happens to be one of the most fun follows on Twitter. And when she goes full Team USA during the Olympics, her timeline is even more entertaining. She’s so crucial to the Games that a lot of people just watch her feed and not the actual competitions. And with all the stuff swirling around the Winter Olympics in Beijing, she’s been one of the few bright spots.
Of course, NBC Sports couldn’t let us have fun without them getting a check, so the Coming 2 America star suddenly found the videos she posted on Twitter blocked. In case you’re unfamiliar, Jones records short clips from her TV while hilariously commenting on the action. She’s made Olympic commentary into an art form, and we almost lost out on all that fun when she tweeted the following Sunday night: “Leslie Jones [doesn’t] stay anywhere I’m not welcomed. #uptoyallnow.”
Attached was a statement that read in part, “They block my videos and they get folks who think they can do it like me. And I’m tired of fighting them. I love the athletes and they love me doing it. And I know y’all love it. But now it’s just gotten too hard. And no one is fighting for or with me. Soooo I guess I’ll leave it to the professionals. But thank you for all the love.”
This led to a well-deserved internet beat down of NBC, which in turn caused a quick response from NBC Sports Monday night, per Deadline.
“This was the result of a third-party error, and the situation has been resolved,” an NBC Sports spokesperson said in the statement. “She is free to do her social media posts as she has done in the past. She is a super fan of the Olympics, and we are super fans of her.”
Really!? A third-party error!?
Do you also have some beachfront property in Nebraska you’d like to sell us NBC?
You got your feelings hurt because no one cared about your Olympics, but they definitely cared about Leslie’s commentary. Instead of being smart about it and adding her to the team, you were bullies and it backfired. Jones has been live-tweeting her Olympics shenanigans since the 2016 Summer Games in Rio, during which NBC made the SNL cast member a special correspondent. And even though she might not be on Saturday Night Live anymore, you could still make her part of the show. Let’s be honest: She’d be much funnier than whatever they did with Kevin Hart and Snoop Dogg.
The moral of this story: never come between Leslie Jones and the Olympics.