NBC turned its Winter Olympics snowboarding coverage into the Shaun White show
-
The now three-time Winter Olympics gold medalist is "a scintillating performer, and a remarkably clutch one," says Josh Levin and Justin Peters. But NBC tried to portray him with a "bogus" "triumph-over-adversity tale" that failed to mention the sexual assault lawsuit he settled and his unpopularity with fellow snowboarders. "NBC’s coverage of White demonstrates it’s incapable of acknowledging that the greatest athletes can sometimes be the biggest jerks," says Levin and Peters. "The network likes to portray its American Olympic heroes as cuddly, wholesome, and likable, even when they’re nothing of the sort. As a storyline, 'Shaun White: Greatest Snowboarder Ever' pales in comparison to 'Shaun White: Greatest Snowboarder Ever and a Super Nice Guy.' NBC needed us to want White to win—to see his victory as an unambiguous triumph."
TOPICS: Shaun White, NBC, NBC Sports, Sexual Misconduct, Winter Olympics
More Shaun White on Primetimer:- Shaun White says of binge-watching girlfriend Nina Dobrev's The Vampire Diaries: "I don't know if that was healthy or not"
- Tony Hawk, Kelly Slater and Shaun White are among the latest batch of Oscar presenters
- Olympic broadcasters need to have personality, zero chill and the ability to know when to shut up
- Mike Tirico hasn't done anything memorable as the new Olympics host, and NBC "must be thrilled"
