It’s funny… but not funny haha. Former gymnast MyKayla Skinner released a video on her Instagram account begging Simone Biles to stop the hate to her and her family.
This comes after the sarcastic comment Simone Biles made after the U.S Gymnastic Team won the gold medal last week.
Read also: “Lack of Talent, Lazy, Olympic Champions”: Simone Biles Shades MyKayla Skinner in the Classiest Way
“Lack of talent, lazy, Olympic champions,” Simone captioned.
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Considering the past between MyKayla and Simone, the short comment from America’s most decorated gymnast was fair and necessary.
However, the former gymnast said in her video that she felt “heartbroken,” which is surprising since it didn’t seem that way when she launched her comments against Biles and the entire team.
“If Simone truly believes that I called our team lazy and lacking talent and if that’s really how she feels, I am really heartbroken over it, but not just heartbroken because it isn’t what I feel or even how I previously said, but because Simone’s latest post and others that followed it fueled another wave of hateful comments, DMs, articles and emails,” Skinner said.
Skinner also revealed that she and her family have been going through difficult times and have even received “death threats.”
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“We’ve been attacked in ways that I’m certain you never intended. Your performance, the team’s performance and the Olympics in general should be a time that we support one another,” said MyKayla.
Many social media users have come out to defend Simone again, arguing that Skinner is playing the victim card after the emotional damage she may have caused Biles.
MyKayla Skinner and Simone Biles Context
In a now-deleted YouTube video, MyKayla Skinner questioned the dedication and talent of the 2024 team saying “Besides Simone, I feel like the talent and depth just isn’t what it used to be.” She continued, “A lot of girls don’t work as hard. The girls just don’t have the work ethic.” Several current gymnasts, including Chiles, Lee, and Carey, blocked Skinner on social media.
She also criticized SafeSport, the organization established to protect athletes from abuse, in a now-deleted video. Skinner’s remarks about other gymnasts, including mispronouncing Hezly Rivera’s name and commenting on Suni Lee’s body type, further fueled the controversy.
Despite their past camaraderie, Biles and Skinner’s relationship has since soured. Both gymnasts won medals at the Tokyo 2021 Olympics, with Skinner earning silver on vault and Biles taking bronze on the balance beam. Biles also won four gold medals at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Nevertheless, after the Biles’ ironic IG post, MyKayla Skinner blocked her on social media according to Biles.
