Leslie Jones can keep commenting on the Olympics, NBC says
By Frank Pallotta, CNN Business
Leslie Jones can keep posting unfiltered videos of herself commenting on the Olympics, according to NBC.
On Monday, Jones said she would stop making the videos, because they were routinely getting blocked. But NBC said Tuesday that the former “Saturday Night Live” cast member can continue offering her commentary while showing footage of the Beijing Winter Olympics.
“This was the result of a third-party error, and the situation has been resolved,” an NBC spokesperson told CNN Business. “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.”
Jones has gained a large following on social media for her hilarious amateur analysis of the Olympics.
“This. Sport. Is. Dangerous,” Jones commented during an ice dancing competition Sunday. “Whoa! He almost chopped her head off!”
Jones — who started her commentary during the the 2016 Rio Olympics while she was still a cast member on the NBC comedy show — took to social media Monday to express her issues with the constant removal of her posts.
“I’m starting to feel like this should be my last Olympics I live tweet,” Jones wrote on Twitter Monday. “I’m tired of fighting the folks who don’t want me to do it.”
NBC is quite protective of its exclusive rights to broadcast the Olympics in the United States. It should be: The network agreed in 2014 to pay $7.7 billion to cover the games through 2032. But exposure from celebrities like Jones could help boost the event’s ratings, which have been underwhelming so far this year.
The broadcaster didn’t specifically ask social media platforms to take down Jones’ videos. But online companies routinely remove unauthorized images of the Olympics and other licensed content — a common practice that sometimes inadvertently removes posts the broadcaster didn’t want blocked. That appears to have been the case with Jones.
Jones said she loves Olympians, and they have expressed gratitude for her comedic armchair commentary. But Jones said she has felt little corporate support for her videos.
“Soooo I guess I’ll leave it to the professionals,” Jones said in Monday’s tweet. “But thank you for all the love.”
She ended the message with the hashtag, “#uptoyallnow.”
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