“Enough is enough” View MyKayla Skinner’s most recent Instagram post regarding her conflict with Simone Biles on social media.
MyKayla Skinner, an Olympic gymnast, has rejoined the conversation.
Skinner, a Team USA gymnast who participated in Tokyo after Simone Biles withdrew due to the twisties, publicly pleaded with Biles “to please put a stop” to what she described as cyberbullying that has resulted in threats against her family on Instagram on Tuesday. Following Biles’ social media post last week hailing Team USA’s gold medal win in Paris, Skinner’s tweet seemed to allude to a remark Skinner had made in a since-deleted YouTube video.
“Watching people cheer on the bullying which has led to threats of physical harm to me, my husband and our daughter is disgusting,” Skinner stated in the clip. “So please, at this point, I am just asking for it to just stop for the sake of my family because enough is enough.”
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Below is Skinner’s entire video message
Hi to all of you. It is my genuine hope that there won’t be a need to revisit this subject. However, recently, things have sadly really gotten out of hand. It’s one thing to disagree with me on something I’ve said or a point I was trying to make, but when that escalates into cyberbullying or worse, that’s a whole other story.
It is repulsive to see people applaud bullying that has resulted in threats of physical violence against our daughter, myself, and my spouse. For the sake of my family, I am pleading with you to kindly stop at this point; I’ve had enough. thus the reason I’m here. The reason for this is because I mentioned work ethics and what appears to be happening with the younger generation roughly four weeks ago. To be completely clear, I apologize for misexpressing the point I was trying to make; hurting or upsetting our US Olympic team was the last thing I intended to do.
These women are amazing, the finest of the best, and nearly all of them were my previous colleagues, whom I have had the pleasure of supporting over the past several years.
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I apologized via video on Instagram
I also wrote personal messages and a written apology to each of the team’s female members after that. Simone was the only one who replied, and she told me she was proud of me. You can imagine how surprised I was to see this brought up repeatedly in an Instagram post caption last week, as I was celebrating our team’s gold medal.
Not only is it not how I feel or even what I previously said, but Simone’s most recent post and others that followed it sparked another wave of hateful comments. If Simone really thinks that I called our team lazy and lacking talent, and if that’s really how she feels, I am really heartbroken over it. DMs, emails, and articles. Death threats against me, my family, and even my agent are examples of hate. I don’t deserve to be caught in the crossfire here with my friends and family. They have not taken any action. Thus, I am pleading with Simone to end this immediately and in public. Kindly request that your followers cease. A lot of people are in need of your assistance right now, and you have been an amazing advocate for mental health awareness. I’m sure you never intended for us to be assaulted and hurt in the ways that we have.
How you performed. Regardless of the team’s performance or the Olympics as a whole, this should be a moment for us to encourage and support one another, as well as our nation.
I adore both our squad and our nation. And I hope that collectively, we can go on, forward, and support the remaining members of our team and athletes.
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An explanation of the Biles-Skinner social media controversy
When Biles celebrated her team’s amazing gold medal victory in the 2024 Olympics on social media last week, her word choice ignited a firestorm within the gymnastics community.
After taking first place in the women’s gymnastics all-around team final and winning gold, Biles posted pictures of her team carrying the American flag. Biles, Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey, and Hezly Rivera were on the team.
She wrote, “Lack of talent, lazy, Olympic champions,” as the post’s caption.
Biles seemed to be alluding to a statement made by Skinner, who replaced Biles at the Tokyo Olympics after she withdrew because of the twisties. Skinner discussed what she perceived as a lack of “talent” and “depth” on the future gymnastics fields in the since-deleted YouTube video.
Shortly after Skinner’s comment, Biles addressed it, and Skinner expressed regret, claiming that his words had been “misinterpreted” or “misunderstood.”
However, following Biles’ statement last week, which received accolades from Olympians worldwide, including her gold medal-winning colleagues, the entire debate around the video reappeared.
Although Skinner did not reply to that message right away, it seemed that she had blocked Biles on social media.
On Tuesday, everything was different.
In the latest video, Skinner made a comment on work ethic and what seems to be happening with the younger generation. “At this point, I am just asking for it to just stop for the sake of my family, because enough is enough,” Skinner stated. To be very clear, I fully accept responsibility for the bad way in which I expressed the point I was attempting to make. It was not my intention to hurt or insult the US Olympic team.”
She went on, saying she had apologized in a video on Instagram, in writing, and to “each of the women on the team.” “I know these women are incredible, the very best of the best, and almost all of them are my former teammates who I have enjoyed very much cheering on on the last few years,” she said.
“Only Simone had responded and she told me that she was proud of me,” stated Skinner. “You can imagine how shocked I was last week when I was celebrating our team’s gold medal. Just to see a caption on an Instagram photo bring this up again and again.”
This is the point in the video where Skinner discusses the fallout from Biles’ most recent post.
“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 how I feel or even what I previously said but heartbroken because Simone’s latest post and others that followed it fueled another wave of hateful comments.”
Death threats against Skinner, her family, and her agent were sent to her via direct messages and emails, according to Skinner.
“My family and my friends don’t deserve to be caught in a crossfire here,” she stated. “They have taken no action. I am pleading with you, Simone, to stop this directly and in public. Kindly request that your followers cease. Many individuals are currently in need of your assistance, and you have been an amazing advocate for mental health awareness. You certainly never intended for us to be assaulted and injured in the ways that we have.”
“I love our country and I love our team,” said Skinner in closing. And I hope that collectively, we can move past this and onward, supporting the remaining athletes and teammates.”
After winning a gold medal, Jordan Chiles confirms that MyKayla Skinner “blocked” Simone Biles
