Former Team USA gymnast MyKayla Skinner says she’s been targeted with a ton of hate after Simone Biles shaded her on social media … claiming her family has even received death threats amid the drama — and she’s begging for it all to stop.
Skinner released a lengthy Instagram video to address the backlash she’s faced after Biles’ caption took aim at her previous comments about the current squad’s lack of work ethic … and while she thought it would all blow over, that simply hasn’t been the case.
Skinner said Biles’ fans have piled on the “bullying” in the days following the diss … with some folks crossing the line and threatening physical harm on her, her husband and their daughter.
“So please, at this point I’m just asking for it to stop for the sake of my family because enough is enough,” an emotional Skinner said in the clip.
Skinner went on to say her initial comments were poorly articulated and she did not mean to harm or offend the 2024 team … claiming her words were more about the “rising generation,” not the gold medal winners in particular.
“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 said she apologized to every member of the team … and she initially thought she made amends with Biles, only to see her post the diss last week.
“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,” Skinner said. “But not just heartbroken because it isn’t what I feel or even how I previously said, but because Simone’s latest post and others that followed it fueled another wave of hateful comments, DMs, articles and emails.”
“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.”
Skinner ended her video by directly asking Biles to step in and tell her supporters to cut it out.
“We’ve been attacked in ways that I’m certain you never intended. Your performance, the team’s performance and the Olympics in general should be a time that we support one another.”