The international media anticipated and predicted a lot of the problems at the Rio Olympics, but no one would have expected breaking news of a gas station “robbery” involving Ryan Lochte and three other American swimmers. The coverage of the alleged robbery demonstrates the sheer scale of Lochte’s privilege as an American athlete. Though the media quickly abandoned Lochte’s story, he was given the benefit of the doubt early on (as a trustworthy athlete), shortly condemned and now quickly forgotten.

The story, which changed many times over the first few days after the incident, has now finally been confirmed by firsthand recounts. Fundamentally, Lochte drunkenly damaged private property and manipulated crucial points of his report to the police, but was threatened by private security guards with a gun. However, the Rio police falsely accused the swimmers of causing more damage than they did (in the gas station bathroom) and stood by the security guards’ innocence (they did pull guns on the men and ask for a large sum of money).

In the end, Lochte may have been scared (and definitely drunk), but he caused an instant scandal and gave the International Olympic Committee, the city of Rio de Janeiro and the Brazilian government a lot of trouble. Lochte’s story will fade from media coverage, but we have yet again watched the American world allow its athlete to slip through the cracks. His drinking habits and brashness now boxed away, Lochte doesn’t have to worry for much longer about the consequences of his actions.

The threat of legal punishment seems very slim for Ryan Lochte: While the American and Brazilian governments have an international extradition treaty, false reporting is not one of the crimes covered by this document. The law in Brazil only calls for one to six months of jail time or an undisclosed fine, but Lochte is now being sheltered in the U.S. and may not even have to pay a fine for his poorly chosen actions.

Financially, Lochte certainly seemed to be more at risk. His four largest sponsors, Speedo, Polo Ralph Lauren, Gentle Hair Removal and Airweave cut ties with the swimmer within the week of the scandal. Already though, Pine Brothers (a throat lozenge company) has stepped in to claim Lochte as its new brand ambassador. He may even get the opportunity to perform on Dancing With the Stars, which would also help heal his economic losses. Lochte will probably have no problem making up the difference to support his financial losses. Sadly, there are always companies willing to take on slandered athletes to give their products more awareness. And these endorsements help shield athletes from persecution by diverting attention towards novel marketing and product advertisements.

What about his reputation? Lochte has been the front-page news for hundreds of media organizations, dubbed the epitome of “everything we hate about the ‘bro’ culture” by CNN and the “popcorn flick” that Twitter followers “dream about.” In the final week of the Olympics, Lochte may have received more press coverage than any other individual athlete at the games. For a split second, it seemed as if the media was going put Lochte on the hook for drinking in public and being arrogant and insensitive.

Yet, even this public humiliation is quickly fading away—now that we know Lochte will likely not face charges in Brazil, he can easily shy away from the public sphere and let people’s anger subside. Forbes has already stepped up to defend Lochte, claiming that he was indeed a victim of circumstance and was probably frightened in the moment (an excuse to lie about the events). Simply by making a formal apology, he has been able to take a lot of the pressure off of his public identity. Further, the media’s treatment of Lochte has quickly softened with the end of the Olympics and they have moved back to covering Donald Trump and his political antics.

Other athletes have done far worse and easily rehabilitated their image through public service, apologies or even just waiting out the storm. Remember when Michael Phelps pleaded guilty for a DUI in December of 2014? Not many do, especially after his phenomenal performance in the 2016 Olympics. He rededicated himself to his sport and became a family man, describing that time in his life as a “downward spiral” that should be written off as atypical. We now have another swimmer who has found himself in a position of disgrace. History tells us that Lochte will find his own way to reemerge as a respected athlete in American society—it’s only a matter time.