It is ridiculous that NBC fired Gabby Papadakis for a perceived conflict of interest, but then they hired Tanith Belbin to commentate a competition in which skaters she coached are competing. Ludicrous. And NBC had to know that C&B were likely to withdraw and that G&P were training in preparation for Worlds.
2025-26 U.S. Broadcast Schedule
- Thread starter TanithandBenFan
- Start date
MacMadame
Getting radicalized on YouTube
- Messages
- 68,143
I assume she is on contract and not an employee so it seems to me they could have told her they didn't need her for the Olympics after all, but kept the door open for future commentating gigs. But maybe they figured they didn't want to use her as long as FBCiz were competing.
I agree it's ridiculous that they cared about her potential conflict of interest but not anyone else's. I also think they overestimated how much the general public (who watches during the Olympics) even knew about the book. Maybe they were lukewarm on her and this was the straw that broke the camel's back?
NBC explicitly said that it was because of a perceived conflict of interest. But, it is possible that this wasn't true, that they were just looking for an excuse to dump her, don't care about conflicts of interest, and lied. I think using Tanith at Worlds to commentate on the team that she coaches and to commentate on their competitors pretty clearly shows that NBC doesn't care about the appearance of a conflict of interest or actual conflicts of interest.
Users who are viewing this thread
Similar threads
