Olympic Swimmer Ryan Lochte Admits He Has No Idea What Yom Kippur Is
— U.S. Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte confused Yom Kippur and a Canadian national holiday during an interview.
Lochte’s publicist said during an interview with the swimmer and New York Magazine reporter Jessica Pressler published on Sunday that she was able to get away from the office to join the interview at a mall in Los Angeles because work was slow due to Yom Kippur.
The interview continues:
“What’s that?” Lochte asks curiously.
“It’s the Jewish Day of Atonement.”
“Wasn’t it their Thanksgiving two days ago?”
“That was *Canadian** *Thanksgiving.”
“Oh,” says Lochte, shifting his hands in his pocket and pulling out his phone, which, as it turns out, has been butt-dialing people.
Lochte, 32, has won six Olympic gold medals, but his image was tarnished after he and three other American swimmers falsely claimed they were robbed at gunpoint during this summer’s Rio Olympics after they had an altercation with a gas station convenience store security guard.
He is currently competing on the latest season of Dancing with the Stars.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
