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Chris Rock's joke was out of line, but that didn't give Will Smith an excuse to assault him onstage. He should've been asked to leave at that point. This whole spectacle distracted from Questlove's win in the middle of this mess. The "In Memoriam" segment was terrible and felt like it was more about the performers onstage, instead of those people we lost. So disrespectful. If this was the new direction the Academy was trying, they need to go back to the drawing board. I'd rather see all the technical awards live than a disaster like this. On the upside, celebrities that were wasted or wearing bad outfits are probably glad that the Smith/Rock disaster overshadowed any minor gaffes from anyone else.

Haha that would be amazing. I don't understand why the Japanese federation isn't making a bigger stink about the Russian/Eteri situation. The top Japanese skaters have been impacted most negatively by the Russians cheating and getting overscored. For the first time since I can remember, I didn't watch the Olympic ladies short program, and I won't be watching the long program, either. Until meaningful action is taken about Eteri and Russian doping, I refuse to watch any ladies figure skating.

I agree that it's sad that, thanks to Team Russia's bullshit behavior, the rest of the athletes will not get to experience a medal ceremony. However, someone on Twitter made a good point that, if they hold the medal ceremony and include Kamila, Russia/Eteri would probably use images of her/the team with "their' medals to boost a propaganda narrative of the IOC being meanies to Kamila for taking away "her" medal. So while it sucks, the only way to ensure that doesn't happen is to eliminate the medal ceremony altogether. At least it shows that the IOC absolutely does not want to award her a medal (although, really, the provision should've applied to all ROC ladies, since they're coached by Eteri and probably doping, too).

NBC posted a video of the segment on their Twitter.

And she's letting them drag her grandfather into this ridiculous lie of a "defense". It's disgusting enough that Eteri and Russia are doping minors, but blaming it on an elderly man who probably barely sees his granddaughter while she's training...I don't have words.

Lord knows I'm not a fan of Tara, and that Johnny's obsession with all things Russian is annoying (to say the least). But I'm glad they spoke out so forcefully and decisively against this decision on NBC. I give credit to Johnny for acknowledging his blind spot about Eteri; he compared what he saw during his visit to Eteri's camp was like going to someone's house when they "put out the good china", and that he now realizes he didn't see the full picture. Mike Tirico also gave context of Russia's problems with doping (Sochi, etc.) and why they're currently competing as ROC. I hope NBC is like a dog with a bone and keeps giving airtime to how bullshit this decision is. We know the IOC won't do the right thing for its own sake. All they understand is money, so let's hope more bad publicity will lead to action.

I agree. It sounds harsh, but losing medals is the only thing Eteri/Russia care about. Sadly, without real action (banning Eteri and preventing all those who dope from competing), Eteri will just keep on doping and abusing these young women. It's not going to end well for some athlete at some point, and the ISU and IOC will have to account for their inaction when that terrible day comes.

Welp, with this shitty decision and with men's/dance being over, I'm out for the rest of the Olympics as far as skating goes. This is a terrible decision. Without checking Eteri/Russia's doping, I feel like it's a matter of time before a skater will have a serious illness (or worse) as a result of the doping and/or training methods. I know it was a decision by CAS, but the IOC and ISU have enabled this behavior and it makes a mockery of all the lip service paid to clean competition and fair play.

I agree. I think they have a great shot at the top of the podium, especially if they keep doing interesting dances like this season's free dance. Whoever sticks around, I hope the overall trend moves away from the floaty-musak-whisper-vocal style. More stuff like Daft Punk aliens and Zorro, please.

Ha yes! I thought I was imagining that, but he really did look happier for C/B. That program is so dull and that awful music change near the end should've been an automatic deduction. H/D's free dance isn't my thing, but they skated it really well and should've been in 2nd. P/C still bore me but they deserved to win. Chock/Bates had the most dynamic and interesting skate of the night IMO.

Yes! That would've been so awesome. The choreography needed music with this type of energy. I also wish their costumes were brighter, and less Virtue/Moir-Lite.

I've been watching ice dance forever, and while I appreciate P/C's skill, I've never fallen in love with them. I think for me a lot of the problem is their music choices always feel a bit samey and drippy. When they talked about their rhythm dance on "Olympic Ice", the clips didn't have the music, and I found that I appreciated the moves a lot more. But the John Legend music lacked the energy/driving beat that would've better accentuated the choreography. I historically don't like Hubbell/Donahue, but that Janet Jackson program is really great. Too bad their free dance doesn't have that energy. I thought they should've been in 2nd over the Sinitsina/Katsalapov. If the judges have to hold up a Russian team, Stepanova/Bukin are more interesting. I was bummed that Chock/Bates made those little mistakes. Hope they can skate lights-out in the free dance. I really dig their alien/astronaut program.

YES, NATHAN! Well deserved gold medal! Loved how he let loose during the step sequence/dance break at the end. ETA - The only thing I would've loved more is if he'd skated to actual Elton John versions (or remixes) instead of the "Rocketman" soundtrack versions.

Jason's skate was beautiful. It felt very personal and emotional. So glad he had two awesome skates at these Olympics!

AND they used footage of Michelle in her iconic light blue dress at the '98 Olympics! They should've superimposed the gold medal that she deserved into the shot. Thank you, Nathan!

Not even with Christopher Dean choreography! (And I say this as a huge Michelle fan.) It seems like most skaters actually didn't touch "Bolero" for a long time after Torvill & Dean. I don't know if these young 'uns and their coaches think we've forgotten now. But my old ass will always think that music belongs to T&D and needs to be left alone.

CBC was already on it, and now NBC is reporting it. I hope the Japanese media joins in (if they haven't already), since their team also would've placed higher if not for ROC's cheating. They're a huge market for figure skating. The media needs to keep up the heat, because it's standard practice for the ISU and IOC to try to sweep this crap under the rug, especially when Russia is involved.

So this Canadian reporter has been live tweeting about the press conference (which is apparently a general IOC daily press conference and not dedicated to the Russian FS doping issue). The spokesperson is not really answering questions, saying it's a legal issue. This is how the IOC handled the 2002 judging scandal (dodging questions/trying to push it off until the future). Info only really came to light because the media kept the heat on. We'll see what happens.

I'm really suspicious that they're holding this press conference while the men's free skate is happening. Always trust the IOC/ISU the be the worst.

Terry briefly mentioned the drama a few minutes ago, but in the same vague language the NBC host used before the coverage started. Said that the team medal ceremony was delayed due to a positive doping test on the Russian team, but didn't name any names.

The punishment to Team "ROC" and Eteri, etc. should be worse if they involved a minor in doping, not lighter. While it's sad if Kamila has been unaware of the situation, it wouldn't be fair to let her continue to compete or for the team medal to stand. If she'd been an adult, the medal would most likely be stripped and she wouldn't be able to compete in the individual event. If Sha'Carri Richardson was banned from competing in Tokyo for weed, then the same punishment should be applied (if not more severe) if Eteri/ROC are feeding their athletes with banned/dangerous substances. I hope the athletes (including Kamila) don't suffer any long-term effects on their health from this. No more slaps on the wrist or letting Russia compete under a band-aid title. There should be real repercussions, both on the ISU and IOC level. ETA - I'm curious to see if Johnny will address this on-air, since he's been such an annoying cheerleader for Team Russia ROC.

Jason's program is a masterpiece and he skated the hell out of it. Like Johnny said, that is why I love this sport.

Yay Nathan!!! He killed it.

Yuma was amazing! Great performance, jumps, and energy. Loved it.

Johnny said the same thing. That your body just does it (to protect itself), and there's nothing you can do.