NBC denies muting JD Vance boos during Olympics broadcast

NBC is pushing back on claims that they altered crowd audio during Vice President JD Vance’s appearance at the Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Italy. The broadcasting giant denied reports that boos heard by international audiences were intentionally removed from the American broadcast.

The dissension stemmed from discrepancies between broadcasts aired Friday during the opening ceremony in Milan. Canadian viewers watching on CBC reported hearing boos when Vance appeared on screen, while viewers watching on NBC in the United States did not hear a similar crowd reaction. 

The difference quickly drew attention online. The Guardian reported on the contrasting audio, raising questions about whether NBC had edited the sound.

Multiple international feeds circulating online appeared to capture a negative reception from the crowd, as Vance represented the United States during the ceremony. On the CBC broadcast, a commentator even noted the reaction in real time: “There are some jeers, it seems, there in Milan,” the CBC announcer said as Vance was shown on screen.

The issue escalated when Guardian journalist Robert Mackey posted on X that Canadian viewers could hear and were told about the boos. On the other hand, American viewers heard no reference to any crowd response. 

Side-by-side video clips comparing the CBC and NBC broadcasts soon went viral. That all began fueling speculation that NBC had deliberately adjusted the audio for U.S. audiences.

In response, NBC has firmly denied that accusation. An NBC Sports spokesperson told Awful Announcing that the network did not edit crowd noise in its presentation of the opening ceremony.

“We did not edit any crowd audio for our presentation of the Opening Ceremony,” the spokesperson said. “The primetime replay and the world feed replay of the Opening Ceremony are both currently available to watch on Peacock.”

NBC has encouraged viewers to watch both versions on Peacock and compare them directly. Still, while NBC maintains no crowd audio was specifically altered, differences between the live broadcast and the tape-delayed primetime replay are noticeable. 

The primetime version features louder music layered over Vance’s appearance, audio not present in the live afternoon broadcast. While primetime Olympic broadcasts are routinely edited for a myriad of reasons, the timing of the added music has only intensified scrutiny.

Alas, Olympic ceremonies regularly undergo post-production adjustments for U.S. primetime audiences. Still, NBC’s official position remains clear. They’re saying no crowd reaction was intentionally edited out, even as debate continues over the situation as a whole.