(Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
Simone Biles appears to have no regrets about clapping back at MyKayla Skinner about a week ago.
For context, a now-viral clip shows Skinner criticizing the “work ethic” of this year’s women’s gymnastics Olympic team. The clip is an excerpt from a now-deleted YouTube video released in early July. In it, MyKayla shared that aside from Simone, she felt the “talent and depth [on the competing women’s gymnastics team] just isn’t like what it used to be.” Her comments came amid the Gymnastics Olympic trials.
“Just notice, like, I mean, obviously, a lot of girls don’t work as hard. The girls just don’t have the work ethic,” Skinner added in the YouTube video.
On July 6, Skinner issued an apology via Instagram addressed to “Team USA and the gymnastics community.” She clarified that it was not her “intention to offend or disrespect any of the athletes or to take away from their hard work.”
Then, a few weeks later, on July 31, Simone Biles shared a carousel Instagram post featuring images of her and her Olympic teammates Jade Carey, Sunisa Lee, Jordan Chiles, and Hezly Rivera. The photos showed the ladies mid-celebration of their gold win in the Artistic Gymnastics Women’s Team Final. “Lack of talent, lazy, Olympic champions,” Simone wrote in the caption, seemingly jabbing at MyKayla Skinner’s viral comments.
Comments from Simone and MyKayla on the situation surfaced on Tuesday (August 6). Speaking to PEOPLE on that date, Biles spoke on the “importance” of using her “voice” as “team lead.”
“It’s important because you have to teach them to use their voices,” the 27-year-old Olympic gymnast said. “And if not, you’re a voice for that voiceless, which is okay.”
Biles added, “I just felt like it was right in that moment to stand up for them, because they’re so young and they haven’t fully stood in their power yet.”
“…For somebody to stand up, I know it meant a lot for [my teammates],” she told the outlet.
Meanwhile, MyKayla took to her Instagram page with a plea for Simone. The retired gymnast asked her former teammate to check her fanbase over alleged cyberbullying. Skinner added that she and her family have been receiving “physical” and “death threats” since Simone’s shady caption clapback.
“To Simone, I am asking you directly and publicly to please put a stop to this. Please ask your followers to stop,” MyKayla said. She continued, “You have been an incredible champion for mental health awareness, and a lot of people need your help now. We’ve been hurt and attacked in ways that I am certain you never intended.”
Furthermore, Skinner claimed that she had already apologized by way of personal messages to each of the gymnasts to whom her initial critiques applied.
“To be totally clear, I take 100% responsibility for poorly articulating the point I was trying to make, and the last thing I wanted was to cause harm or offend our U.S. Olympic team,” Skinner said in her video. “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 the last few years.”
