Dominique Moceanu
Now, former Olympic gymnast Dominique Moceanu is making similar claims about the network, saying that when her memoir, Off Balance was published in 2012, she was told that NBC attempted to "bury" the stories she wrote about in her book. Moceanu claimed that she faced emotional and physical abuse from her coaches, Bela and Marta Karolyi. Moceanu was the youngest member of the "Magnificent Seven" team that won the gold medal in the 1996 Summer Olympics.
In a series, of tweets, Moceanu said that she has been told from producers that NBC "told us not to go near your story" and refused to cover any of the claims made in her book regarding USA Gymnastics. NBC owns the rights to the Olympics.
USA Gymnastics has dealt with its own series of sexual abuse scandals in recent years. Longtime team doctor Larry Nassar, who worked with several Olympic and World Championship teams for decades, was arrested on federal child pornography charges in late 2016. Several gymnasts, including former Olympians, have come forward and said that Nassar sexually abused them under the guise of treating their back pain. Another former Team USA coach, Marvin Sharp, was arrested in 2015 for child pornography and was accused of molesting gymnasts. He committed suicide in prison.
In March, a bipartisan group of senators introduced a bill to combat sexual abuse in sports.
If these claims are true, something is terribly wrong at NBC. These cases should be reported on, not buried. People's safety is more important than making Hollywood executives happy or ensuring that lots of people tune in for the Olympics.
Comment: Sports are not the only institution where predators try to insinuate themselves. Any large group of vulnerable individuals are like a magnet to these monsters.