Mikayla Skinner is begging Simon Biles to “stop” the cyberbullying she’s endured following her controversial comments about the current U.S. women’s gymnastics team.
The former Olympic gymnast took to her Instagram on Tuesday to urge Biles to ask her social media followers to stop spreading hate and making threats amid the alleged feud.
“I truly hoped this subject would never come up again, but unfortunately things have gotten out of hand recently. It’s one thing to disagree with something I’ve said or tried to say, but when it escalates into cyberbullying or something even worse, it’s a whole other issue,” Skinner said in the lengthy video. “I’m tired of seeing people supporting the bullying, which has led to threats of physical harm against me, my husband and my daughter, and it makes me sick. So right now, for the sake of my family, I’m just asking that the bullying stop. Enough is enough.”
Skinner, a silver medalist in the vault at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, has faced criticism ahead of the 2024 Olympics for comments she made in recent weeks about several former teammates competing in Paris.
“Besides Simone, I feel like we don’t have as much talent and depth as we used to,” Skinner said in a YouTube video last month. “So obviously a lot of our guys aren’t working as hard as they used to. There’s just not a work ethic among our guys.”
In response, Biles appeared to address the former athlete’s comments in an Instagram post celebrating the U.S. team’s victory, writing in the caption: “Lack of talent, laziness, Olympic champion.”
Skinner said she personally messaged every woman on the USA Gymnastics team, but only Biles responded to her and said she was proud of her, which is why she was “surprised” by the Olympic gold medalist’s Instagram post.
“If Simone truly believes and truly feels that I called my team lazy and untalented, then I am truly heartbroken,” Skinner said. “But I’m not just heartbroken because it’s different from how I feel and what I’ve said before, but because Simone’s latest post and the ones that followed have fueled a new wave of hateful comments, direct messages, articles and emails. That hate has included death threats against me, my family and even my agent. My family and friends do not deserve to be subjected to this attack here. They have done nothing.”
She ended the video with a message aimed at Biles: “Dear Simone, I want to ask you directly and publicly: please stop this. Ask your followers to stop it too. You are an incredible advocate for mental health awareness and so many need your help right now. We have all been attacked in ways that we never intended. Your performance, your team’s performance, and the Olympics as a whole should be a time for us to support each other.”