Did NBC edit footage of Vance getting booed at 2026 Winter Olympics? We investigated

Following the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy on Feb. 6, 2026, a rumor spread online that NBC edited out boos directed at U.S. Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance, who were in attendance in Milan.

Users on social media platforms such as Facebook (archived) and Instagram (archived) pointed to alleged discrepancies between different footage of the ceremony: one version that clearly showed the Vances being booed (archived) as they appeared on screen and another (archived) where no boos were audible.

I didn't hear any booing 🤔 https://t.co/iBYYAGBdt2

— SandyBeach (@SandyBeach305) February 6, 2026

Snopes' independent review of three replays of Team USA's entrance at the opening ceremony, alongside reporting from the event, confirmed the crowd booed when the Vances were shown on the stadium's screens. 

According to a USA Today report, the United States received a positive reception from the crowd until Vice President Vance was shown on the screens, "turning the cheers into boos." President Donald Trump told CBS News he had not seen the video but that he was surprised by the reaction to Vance because "people like him." Trump added that Vance "doesn't get booed" in the U.S.

A sports reporter also posted about the reaction on X (archived), writing:

In my 22 Olympics it probably has happened but I sure don't remember it. Vice President JD Vance just got booed when he appeared on the big screen. The US athletes, on the other hand, received loud cheers.

NBC's streaming platform, Peacock, which featured replays of the network's Olympics coverage, initially hosted three different versions of the moment in question, including the official Olympic Broadcasting Services feed. 

One of those versions — NBC's own "primetime" replay — added music over the moment and effectively muted all crowd reaction, a change that appeared to fuel the rumor that NBC edited out boos directed at the Vances.

However, Snopes could not independently confirm whether NBC Sports deliberately altered the crowd audio during postproduction, so we have opted not to put a rating on this claim. 

A spokesperson for NBC Sports told Snopes via email on Feb. 9 that the network "did not edit any crowd audio for our presentation of the Opening Ceremony," adding that "the primetime replay and the world feed replay of the Opening Ceremony are both currently available to watch on Peacock."

The "world feed" referred to the "unbiased live radio and television coverage of every sport from every venue" produced by the Olympic Broadcasting Services. The governing body of the Olympics created the OBS in 2001 to serve as the "host" broadcast organization that delivers its coverage to other broadcasters around the globe.

As of Feb. 10, 2026, two of the aforementioned videos — the version with the added music and one matching the OBS feed — had been removed from Peacock for unknown reasons. NBC Sports had not responded to follow-up questions as of this writing.

Peacock's different versions of Team USA entrance

Peacock offered three different versions of the ceremony as of Feb. 9, 2026. 

First, there was a clip taken from the longer ceremony that featured Team USA's entrance with music from the live ceremony and insights from NBC's commentary team. A clip of the same moment, though slightly shorter, is available to watch on NBC Sports' YouTube page. 

Around the 32-second mark, the crowd's reaction distinctly changes from cheers to jeers. The camera remains fixed on the athletes until the 38-second mark, when the feed cuts to the Vances and the commentator identifies the vice president. 

This clip appeared to showcase how the ceremony was broadcast live on NBC. When compared to the network's full "primetime" replay, the audio differences were clear. 

The full-length replay featured an overlaid, thumping music track for the Team USA entrance around the 1:32:00 mark, which appeared to be added in postproduction. As a result, the added music covered most of the audible crowd noise during the team's entrance, making it difficult to hear both the cheers and the boos directed at the Vances.

The music appeared to be part of a production package that included pre-taped segments celebrating Team USA with celebrities such as Samuel L. Jackson, rather than being added solely to drown out the crowd's reaction to Vance. However, we couldn't independently confirm the network's intent.

Peacock also offered a world feed replay from OBS, featuring alternative angles and editing but no commentary. Team USA's entrance occurred around the 2:12:00 mark, without any added music. This replay also cut to the Vances, after which the crowd erupted into boos. 

Peacock's world feed matched a version circulating online from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, except the CBC broadcast featured Canadian commentators addressing the reaction, saying, "There's the Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, oop — those are not … those are a lot of boos for him. Whistling, jeering, some applause."

Comparing the world feed with the NBC footage, it was evident based on the athletes' positioning as they walked down the aisle that the world feed cut to the Vances earlier than NBC did. 

Therefore, the world feed showed the crowd reaction lining up with the Vances' appearance on screen, while on NBC, the reaction seemed premature, as the camera was still focused on the athletes when the boos occurred. 

Both the primetime and world feed replays were available on Peacock as of Feb. 9, 2026, as the NBC Sports spokesperson claimed, but they appeared to have been removed by Feb. 10. 

We reached out to NBC Sports again for insight on why the replays were removed following our inquiries about the discrepancy and will update this article if we hear back.