NBC is adding another familiar face to its Paris Summer Olympics coverage. On Thursday, the company announced that comedian Leslie Jones would be part of their coverage, as she was in 2016 and 2018.
Jones “will attend live Olympic events, meet athletes, and spread her enthusiasm for the Olympics” in her role from Paris.
“Reprising her role from the 2018 PyeongChang and 2016 Rio Olympic Games, Jones will attend live Olympic events, meet athletes, and spread her enthusiasm for the Olympics across NBC, Peacock, and additional NBCUniversal linear and digital platforms, while also posting on her own social media handles during the coverage in Paris,” stated an NBC press release.
“We are excited to welcome Leslie back to our Olympic team,” said Rebecca Chatman, coordinating producer, NBC Olympics in the announcement. “She is a passionate fan of Team USA, and we can’t wait to hear from her at events and sites across Paris.”
“It’s about that time people, for the 2024 Olympics, and I’m pumped to be heading to Paris to report on Team USA,” Jones exclaimed in the presser. “These athletes train for years to compete at the highest level, and I’m so excited to be back in the seat with NBCUniversal, cheering for Team USA and serving as chief super fan commentator. USA!! SLAY ALL DAY!! LET’S GOOOOOO!!”
During the 2016 Summer Olympics from Rio, Jones’ tweets about the Games went viral, leading to NBC bringing her to Brazil to join their coverage.
Leslie Jones ran into copyright issues with her tweets during the 2022 Beijing Olympics, which NBC blamed on a “third-party error” and resolved. With Jones part of NBC’s Paris coverage, those issues presumably won’t pop up again.
About Joe Lucia
I hate your favorite team. I also sort of hate most of my favorite teams.