Gymnast MyKayla Skinner Asks Simone Biles to Help End Cyberbullying After Olympic Team Drama
MyKayla Skinner is issuing a heartfelt apology after making controversial comments about Team USA.
In fact, the Olympic gymnast revealed she and her family have received death threats and more brutal online harassment after she criticized Simone Biles and the rest of the 2024 Team USA women's gymnasts before the Paris Olympics.
"Things have really gotten out of hand lately," the 27-year-old shared in an Aug. 6 Instagram video. "It's one thing to disagree with me regarding something I have said or a point I was trying to make, but it's something else entirely when that turns into cyberbullying or, even worse, watching people cheer on the bullying, which has led to threats of physical harm to me, my husband and our daughter is disgusting. Please, at this point, I am just asking to just stop for the sake of my family."
Skinner—who shares 11-month-old daughter Charlotte with husband Jonas Harmer—also took accountability for "for poorly articulating the point I was trying to make" when she disparaged the female athletes' work ethic in a since-deleted YouTube video.
"The last thing I wanted was to cause harm or offend our U.S. Olympic team," she continued. "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."
Skinner, a silver medalist at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, also sent a message directly to Biles, who revealed last week that she was blocked by Skinner on Instagram amid the drama.
"Simone's latest post and others that followed it fueled another wave of hateful comments, DMs, articles and emails," she explained. "Hate that includes death threats to me my family and even my agent. My family and my friends don't deserve to be caught in the crossfire here. They've done nothing.
"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."
Skinner's plea comes several days after Biles' 2024 Olympic teammates Suni Lee and Jordan Chiles seemingly called out Skinner on social media in support of Biles, who took home four medals during this year's summer games.
Now, keep reading to see the U.S. women’s gymnasts spring into action and land on gold at the 2024 Olympics.
She captioned her post with, "I love our country and don’t want to take anything away from our athletes. Let’s use this time to build each other up, not tear others down."
Skinner's plea comes several days after Biles' 2024 Olympic teammates Suni Lee and Jordan Chiles seemingly called out Skinner on social media in support of Biles, who took home four medals during this year's summer games.
Now, keep reading to see the U.S. women’s gymnasts spring into action and land on gold at the 2024 Olympics.
Jordan Chiles, Hezly Rivera, Simone Biles, Jade Carey and Suni Lee celebrated after winning gold.
The Team USA gymnasts had some fun with their medals on the podium after winning the Artistic Gymnastics Women's Team Final.
Sunisa Lee and Jordan Chiles waved the national flag around the arena to celebrate their win.
The team was all smiles after hearing they had won the gold.
Biles looked confident as she performed her floor routine.
Lee shined during her uneven bars routine.
Biles reacts after finishing her routine on the uneven bars.
Chiles and Biles enjoyed a sweet moment together during the competition.
Biles soared during the vault competition.
Chiles had the best reaction after finishing her routine on the uneven bars.
After falling during her floor routine at qualifiers, Carey returned to the arena for the team finals, where she dominated the vault competition.
Lee delivered a jaw-dropping floor routine for Team USA.
It was another strong performance from Biles on the uneven bars.
After completing her incredible floor routine, Chiles broke down in tears.
Biles hit the balance beam in style.
Jordan Chiles fell while competing on the balance beam, but battled back to finish her routine.
The Olympian's husband Jonathan Owens, who took a break from NFL training camp to fly to Paris, and mom Nellie Biles cheered her on in the crowd.
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Watch the 2024 Paris Olympics daily on NBC and Peacock until the summer games end with the Closing Ceremony on Sunday, Aug. 11, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
