NBC tiptoes around sexual misconduct in its Shaun White coverage

Adapted from a story by The Washington Post’s Callum Borchers.

At the Olympics, NBC has danced along in its coverage of Shaun White — who won his third Olympic gold medal in halfpipe snowboarding on Tuesday — and of sexual misconduct, in general. The 31-year-old athlete had sent sexually explicit text messages to a female employee, Lena Zawaideh, who sued White in 2016. At the time, White admitted to sending the texts but called the suit, in which the employee alleged other forms of harassment, “bogus.” White and Zawaideh reached an undisclosed settlement.

NBC’s Olympic telecasts ignored the accusations against White until Wednesday, after a journalist from another TV network raised them in a post-competition news conference and drew this response from the snowboarder: “You know, honestly, here to talk about the Olympics, not gossip.”

American snowboarder Shaun White declined to discuss allegations of sexual harassment on Feb. 14, calling them "gossip." (Video: Reuters)

Interviewing White on the “Today” show, Savannah Guthrie indicated that she didn’t want to bring up harassment but felt compelled.

“I take no pleasure in asking,” she said to White.

White initially talked around the central issue by apologizing for his use of the word “gossip” to “describe such a sensitive subject in the world today.” Guthrie followed up by returning to White’s behavior, which allegedly included groping Zawaideh.

“Is there anything you want to say?” Guthrie asked. “Do you feel that you learned something from that? Are you acknowledging?”

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“Yeah, you know, I’ve grown as a person over the years,” White answered. “And it’s amazing — I mean, you’ve known me for a long time now — it’s amazing how life works, and twists and turns and lessons learned. So every experience in my life, I feel like it’s taught me a lesson, and I definitely feel like I’m a much more changed person than I was when I was younger.”

White appeared to be admitting to something, but NBC seems to have decided that the Olympics are neither the time nor the place to grill him. An NBC Sports spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.

The network has not completely overlooked misconduct. For example, a recent online report described the Olympics’ addition of designated offices for fielding harassment and assault complaints during the Games.

“The Olympics has long been considered a pinnacle sporting event meant to showcase the most talented athletes in the world — not the place for discussing sexual assault and abuse,” NBC reported. “But for the first time, a host city is hoping to change that by opening four counseling offices — referred to as Gender Equality Support Centers — scattered across the Olympic sites.”

NBC also has partnered with the Association of National Advertisers on a campaign called #SeeHer to promote “accurate portrayals of women and girls in U.S. advertising and media.”

Still, sexual misconduct is having a cultural moment right now, but not an Olympic moment on NBC.