--- description: The twenty-third season of 'Dancing With The Stars,' which premiered on Monday night, was overshadowed by protestors storming the stage title: Protesters Storm 'DWTS' Stage After Ryan Lochte's Dance image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt50e9413ad27635d9/6988a5b7bc6cfcbc283de8ba/gettyimages-600196398.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Protesters Storm the Stage After Ryan Lochte's _Dancing With The Stars_ Performance by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Jan 17, 2024 3:50 PM CUTPublished: Sep 13, 2016 3:31 AM CUT  U.S. Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte poses as Season 23 of Dancing With the Stars meets the press at Planet Hollywood Times Square on Sept. 7, 2016, in New York City U.S. Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte poses as Season 23 of Dancing With the Stars meets the press at Planet Hollywood Times Square on Sept. 7, 2016, in New York CityBruce Glikas—Getty Images by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Jan 17, 2024 3:50 PM CUTPublished: Sep 13, 2016 3:31 AM CUT The 23rd season of _Dancing With The Stars_ premiered Monday night. And it didn’t go quite as planned. The premiere featured Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte, who was [suspended](http://time.com/4484068/ryan-lochte-suspended-for-10-months/ "undefined") for 10 months after [fabricating an armed robbery](http://time.com/4458466/ryan-lochte-rio-robbery-gas-station/ "undefined") during the Rio Olympics. But surely no one anticipated that the event would warrant disruptive protest. E! News and other outlets [report](http://www.eonline.com/news/794053/ryan-lochte-gets-rushed-by-protesters-after-dancing-with-the-stars-performance "undefined") that just before Lochte and his partner Cheryl Burke were to be judged, “men wearing white anti-Lochte T-shirts” rushed the stage. Security personnel stabilized the situation. E! News also reports that there was apparently a whole coterie of protesters wearing the anti-Lochte shirts in the audience. Afterwards, the swimmer said he was “a little hurt.” “I came out here and I wanted to do something I was completely uncomfortable with, and I did,” he said. Two men were arrested after being led away from the scene in handcuffs, ABC[ reports](http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/dwts-security-incident-shouts-liar-greet-ryan-lochtes/story?id=42045819 "undefined"). One of the men called Lochte a “liar.” Authorities are now addressing the matter. > [](https://twitter.com/ABCNewsJason/status/775515997918810113) Protesters Storm DWTS Stage After Ryan Lochte's Dance ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4488849/ryan-lochte-dancing-with-the-stars-protest/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4488849/ryan-lochte-dancing-with-the-stars-protest/"},"headline":"Protesters Storm the Stage After Ryan Lochte's Dancing With The Stars Performance","datePublished":"2016-09-13T03:31:29.000Z","dateModified":"2024-01-17T15:50:58.000Z","description":"The Olympic medalist said he was \"a little hurt\"","url":"https://time.com/4488849/ryan-lochte-dancing-with-the-stars-protest/","keywords":["Television","Dancing with the Stars","Ryan Lochte"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt50e9413ad27635d9/6988a5b7bc6cfcbc283de8ba/gettyimages-600196398.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt50e9413ad27635d9/6988a5b7bc6cfcbc283de8ba/gettyimages-600196398.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Dancing With The Stars Cast Visits Planet Hollywood","caption":"Dancing With The Stars Cast Visits Planet Hollywood","creditText":"Bruce Glikas—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4488849/ryan-lochte-dancing-with-the-stars-protest/","name":"Protesters Storm the Stage After Ryan Lochte's Dancing With The Stars Performance"}}]}] ```