Gymnast MyKayla Skinner Begs Simone Biles to Help End Cyberbullying After Olympic Team Drama
Simone Biles will always use her voice to speak up for her team.
The 27-year-old got candid about her decision to defend her fellow Team USA gymnasts Jordan Chiles, Suni Lee, Jade Carey, and Hezly Rivera following criticism from former Olympian MyKayla Skinner as the athletes performed at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
"It's important because you have to teach them to use their voices,” Biles told People in an article published Aug. 6 of her decision to speak out. "And if not, you're a voice for the voiceless, which is OK."
Biles took home a total of four Olympic medals, including a team women’s all-around gold. After the impressive win, Biles posted photos from the competition, writing, “Lack of talent, lazy, olympic champions.”
Many took the caption to be a direct diss toward Biles’ former teammate Skinner, who called out the gymnasts’ “work ethic” in a since-deleted YouTube video.
Skinner, who competed in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, later apologized for the video, saying she supported the Team USA gymnasts and was cheering them on.
photosSimone Biles and Jordan Chiles' Friendship
However, Skinner recently took to Instagram to issue a plea to Biles and her fans.
"Simone's latest post and others that followed it fueled another wave of hateful comments, DMs, articles and emails," she explained in an Aug. 6 video shared to Instagram. "Hate that includes death threats to me my family and even my agent.”
Skinner—who shares 11-month-old daughter Charlotte with husband Jonas Harmer—said she had apologized directly to Biles prior to the Olympics and was caught off-guard by the decorated gymnast’s headline-making caption.
Patrick Smith/Getty Images
"So, to Simone," Skinner concluded, "I am asking you directly and publicly to please put a stop to this. Please ask your followers to stop."
Following this year’s impressive Olympic run, Biles cemented her status as the most decorated gymnast of all time. Look back at Team USA’s impressive showing in Paris.
