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NBC’s Mike Tirico was forced to apologize after making a major mistake during the Team USA-France broadcast.
On Saturday afternoon, Team USA defeated France to capture gold at the Olympics.
After the game, French basketball player Mathias Lessort was seen sporting a Martinique flag, which Tirico mistakenly identified as a Palestinian flag on the broadcast.
“You saw with Lessort, one of the back centers, the Palestine flag draped over his shoulders,” Tirico said during the medals ceremony broadcast. “We are certainly conscious of any displays regarding the Middle East conflict from athletes involved in these games.”
Fans immediately called out Tirico for his mistake.
Omg Mathias Lessort is wearing a flag from Martinique (the French territory where he was born) but Mike Tirico thinks it’s a Palestinian flag 😬😬😬 pic.twitter.com/2NSnKLxteP
— kiara (@kiaradidwhat) August 10, 2024
Not long after receiving backlash, Tirico posted an apology and a retraction on social media.
Via Mike Tirico/X
“Just acknowledging, as soon as possible, my error for misidentifying the Martinique flag as the flag of Palestine during the medal ceremony at Men’s Basketball today. They are similar but obviously distinctly different which is quite important for all involved.”
“I apologize for the error and will correct on-air during our primetime show tonight.”