Former gymnast MyKayla Skinner has urged her ex-teammate, Simone Biles, to stop the hate surrounding her controversial comments about the U.S. women’s Olympic team. This comes after Biles stirred up the conversation with an Instagram post last week.
In a video posted on her Instagram, Skinner, who was on the 2020 U.S. women’s Olympic gymnastics team with Biles, revealed that she has been facing cyberbullying and her family has received threats in recent weeks. She mentioned that fans have cheered on the bullying, exacerbated by Biles’ post seeming to target Skinner and the subsequent wave of negative comments and messages.
The drama in the gymnastics world began in June when Skinner posted a YouTube video, now deleted, discussing the 2024 Olympic team.
In the video, Skinner expressed her opinion that besides Simone, the talent and work ethic of the team were not as strong as before, drawing backlash as many of the current team members were also her former teammates from 2020.
Skinner later clarified her comments in a subsequent video and issued a formal apology, stating that she did not mean to offend or disrespect the athletes. She took full responsibility for not articulating her point clearly and praised the 2024 team as the best.
In her latest video, Skinner expressed disappointment over the revived drama after Biles’ Instagram post seemed to reference her previous comments. She mentioned the cyberbullying and death threats she has received and asked Biles to publicly call for an end to the attacks. Skinner emphasized the importance of supporting each other and moving forward together.
Biles, who achieved success in Paris with three gold medals and one silver, has not responded to Skinner’s video yet.
