MyKayla Skinner is pleading for Simon Biles to “put a cease” to the cyberbullying she’s confronted following controversial remarks she made in regards to the present U.S. ladies’s gymnastics crew.
The previous Olympic gymnast took to her Instagram on Tuesday, calling for Biles to ask her followers on social media to cease spreading hate and making threats amid their alleged feud.
“I sincerely hoped that this subject wouldn’t should be revisited however sadly issues have actually gotten out of hand recently. And it’s one factor to disagree with me relating to one thing I’ve stated or some extent I used to be making an attempt to make, but it surely’s one thing else totally when that turns into cyberbullying and even worse,” Skinner stated in a prolonged video. “Watching individuals cheer on the bullying — which has led to threats of bodily hurt to me my husband and our daughter — is disgusting. So please at this level, I’m simply asking for it to cease for the sake of my household as a result of sufficient is sufficient.”
Skinner, who was the 2020 Tokyo Olympic vault silver medalist, confronted backlash forward of the 2024 Olympics on account of feedback she made about a few of her former teammates, who’ve been competing on the Paris Video games for the previous few weeks.
“Apart from Simone, I really feel just like the expertise and the depth simply isn’t what it was once,” Skinner stated in a YouTube video final month. “I imply, clearly, plenty of women simply don’t work as laborious. The ladies simply don’t have the work ethic.”
In response, Biles seemingly referenced the previous athlete’s remarks in her Instagram submit celebrating the U.S. crew’s victory. “Lack of expertise, lazy, olympic champions,” she wrote within the caption.
Skinner famous that she personally messaged every of the ladies on the U.S. gymnastics crew, nevertheless, she stated Biles was the one one who responded and advised her that she was happy with her. That’s why she was “shocked” by the Olympic gold medalist’s Instagram caption.
“If Simone really believes that I referred to as our crew lazy and missing expertise and if that’s actually how she feels, I’m actually heartbroken over it,” Skinner stated. “However not simply heartbroken as a result of it isn’t what I really feel and even how I beforehand stated, however as a result of Simone’s newest submit and others that adopted it fueled one other wave of hateful feedback, DMs, articles and emails. Hate that features dying threats to me my household and even my agent. My household and my associates don’t should be caught within the crossfire right here. They’ve performed nothing.”
She concluded her video with a message directed at Biles: “To Simone, I’m asking you straight and publicly to please put a cease to this. Please ask your followers to cease. You could have been an unimaginable champion for psychological well being consciousness and lots of people want your assist now. We’ve been attacked in ways in which I’m sure you by no means supposed. Your efficiency, the crew’s efficiency and the Olympics on the whole needs to be a time that we assist each other.”