MyKayla Skinner is asking for forgiveness and hoping to put the drama behind her.
The retired American gymnast has been involved in a headline-making back-and-forth with former teammate Simone Biles after Skinner made some controversial comments about Team USA’s current and prospective gymnasts—and now, she is asking Biles for a truce.
Skinner—who left professional gymnastics following the 2020 Olympics, where she competed with Biles—made the comments in question in a since-deleted YouTube video posted during the Olympic trials in June.
“Besides Simone, I feel like the talent and the depth just isn’t like what it used to be,” she said of some gymnasts—which many took to mean members of the 2024 team.
“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.
On July 3, Skinner posted on her Instagram Story that her initial comments had been “misinterpreted,” and claimed that they “[weren’t] necessarily about the current team.” On July 6, she posted a formal apology to Team USA’s gymnasts on her grid and wished them the best at the Paris Olympics.
But despite her attempt at damage control, Skinner’s remarks sparked backlash, which only escalated after Biles posted a series of photos of herself with her other 2024 team members on Instagram, after they won gold at the team all-around finals at the Games on July 30. The caption, which seemed like a direct response to Skinner’s remarks, read: “lack of talent, lazy, olympic champions.”
Now, in the latest development, Skinner has addressed Biles—now the most decorated gymnast in history—to ask that she help end the feud, as Skinner has experienced cyberbullying, including threats of “physical harm” to her family, after Biles’s post.
Skinner said as much in a video posted on her Instagram on August 6. “To Simone, I am asking you directly and publicly to please put a stop to this. Please ask your followers to stop,” she began.
“You have been an incredible champion for mental health awareness, and lot of people need your help now. We’ve been hurt and attacked in ways that I am certain you never intended,” she continued, saying that her friends and family have “been caught in the crossfire.”
“Your performance, your team’s performance and the Olympics, in general, should be a time that we support one another and lift each other and our country up,” Skinner added. “I love our country, and I love our team, and I hope that we can move on and move forward and cheer on the rest of our teammates and our athletes together.”
Biles has not publicly responded.
