The ongoing feud between the Team USA women’s gymnastics team and former member MyKayla Skinner is starting to turn ugly.
Skinner posted a message on Tuesday pleading with Simone Biles to call off her fans. The former alternate is claiming things had escalated to the point where she and her family are being ‘bullied.’
“Watching people cheer on the bullying … is disgusting,” she laments in an Instagram video. “So please at this point, I’m just asking for it to stop for the sake of my family because enough is enough.”
Skinner went so far as to allege that she had received “death threats.”
Skinner was an alternate for Biles during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, winning a silver medal in the vault program.
RELATED: Simone Biles Tears Into Former Team USA Teammate Who Insulted Squad After Winning Gold In Paris
MyKayla Skinner Demands Simone Biles Do Something About Her Fans
Skinner initially drew heat by criticizing the women’s gymnastics squad in the run-up to the Paris games. Though she excluded Simone Biles from her critique, many of the girls took offense to her comments.
“Besides Simone, I feel like the talent and the depth just isn’t like what it used to be,” she said. “The girls just don’t have the work ethic.”
Skinner later apologized for the comments but the damage had been done.
Biles responded after the team won gold with a jab clearly directed at her former teammate. On Instagram, Biles captioned an image of the ladies celebrating victory at the Summer Olympics: “Lack of talent, lazy, Olympic champions.”
Skinner was surprised that even after an apology, Biles opted to take a shot at her.
“You guys can imagine my surprise last week when I was celebrating our team winning gold just to see this brought up all over again by a caption on an Instagram post,” Skinner added.
“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.”
Things Escalated From There
Even after the initial jab, Simone Biles continued to taunt MyKayla Skinner on social media, laughing that she had “been blocked.”
Then, other female gymnasts really piled on.
McKayla Maroney, who won gold and silver medals at the London Olympics in 2012, chimed in. She continued the beat down, saying, “She f’d around n found out (for real).”
Suni Lee added, “Put a finger down if Simone Biles just ended you 🖐🏼.”
Skinner though, says things are going too far and wants the only person who can do something about it to stop it.
“Simone’s latest post and others that followed it fueled another wave of hateful comments, DMs, articles and emails,” she said. “I am asking you directly and publicly to please put a stop to this. Please ask your followers to stop.”
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