CELEBRITY
American Olympic gymnast MyKayla Skinner is speaking out about her former teammate Simone Biles’ seemingly pointed tweet following Team USA’s Paris Olympics gold medal win in women’s gymnastics.
Skinner, who competed alongside Biles on the 2020 U.S. women’s Olympics gymnastics team, said in a new video posted to her Instagram account Tuesday that she experienced cyberbullying, including threats of “physical harm” to her family, after Biles posted a series of photos of the 2024 U.S. women’s gymnastics team on Instagram following their gold medal win with the caption, “lack of talent, lazy, olympic champions.”
Skinner, the mom of a 10-month-old daughter, said in the video, “To Simone, I am asking you directly and publicly to please put a stop to this. Please ask your followers to stop.”
“You have been an incredible champion for mental health awareness, and lot of people need your help now. We’ve been hurt and attacked in ways that I am certain you never intended,” she continued, explaining that her friends and family have “been caught in the crossfire.”
Your performance, your team’s performance and the Olympics, in general, should be a time that we support one another and lift each other and our country up,” she added. “I love our country, and I love our team, and I hope that we can move on and move forward and cheer on the rest of our teammates and our athletes together.”