Y’all, it appears there’s drama brewing between Simone Biles and fellow gymnast MyKayla Skinner. Though both were previously on the gymnastics team together during the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, the drama between these two recently sparked online. Now, it seems Skinner has blocked Biles on Instagram, which is something I didn’t see coming at all. So how did Biles and Skinner get to this point? Allow me to break it down for you.
It all started on June 30 when Skinner critiqued Team USA’s 2024 gymnastics team in a now-deleted YouTube video.
In the video, Skinner said, “Besides Simone, I feel like the talent and the depth just isn’t like what it used to be.” She added,“A lot of girls don’t work as hard. The girls just don’t have the work ethic.” Skinner went on the claim that the team lacked “talent and depth,” even calling one “lazy.”
A lot of people weren’t fans of what Skinner had to say about the 2024 gymnastics team and it looked like Biles wasn’t either because she seemingly responded to Skinner on Threads on July 3, writing, “Not everyone needs a mic and platform.”
Skinner then responded with an apology on X, formerly known as Twitter, sharing that it was “not [her] intention to offend or disrespect any of the athletes or to take away from their hard work.” She also wrote, “Upon reflection [I] was comparing the ‘Marta Era’ to the current era.”
Skinner continued, “I am coming to terms that I have not fully dealt with the emotional and verbal abuse I endured under Marta that perhaps led to my hurtful comments. I take full responsibility for what I said and I deeply apologize.” Skinner further explained. She finished her statement sharing that she’ll be “cheering” the team on and saying “Go Team USA!”
On July 30, Biles, Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey, and Hezly Rivera won gold for Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Skinner celebrated the win by reposting a photo of the 2024 women’s gymnastics team on her Instagram Story with a series of red hearts.
But it appeared Biles didn’t forget what Skinner previously said about her team and celebrated their win with an Instagram post that was captioned, “lack of talent, lazy, olympic champions,” seemingly referring to Skinner’s controversial comments.
People have been eating up Biles’ caption. McKayla Maroney, another American gymnast, commented in support of Biles. “It doesn’t get more iconic than this… She f’d around n found out fr. Feels like I need to apologize just to redeem my first name,” Maroney wrote in the comments. Meanwhile, fans have been taking to Twitter to applaud Biles while cackling at her iconic caption.
THE CAPTION 💀
SIMONE BILES, GO OFFFF 🗣️🗣️🗣️ pic.twitter.com/10YVmZwuWw
— Melissa 🌈🫶🏻 (@melissax1125) July 31, 2024
I love Simone Biles for this caption haha!
Someone find Mikayla Skinner😂 pic.twitter.com/LOeTV3OLqB
— Grace (@gracesporttakes) July 31, 2024
Simone Biles throwing shade in her IG caption towards the chick that called the team lazy and untalented is peak USA. Perfectly executed. No further comment. 😂♥️
— britt 𓆩♡𓆪 (@itsbritttbish) July 31, 2024
Give @Simone_Biles another gold medal for that Instagram caption because that is ICONIC.
— Sandra (@SandraK113) July 31, 2024
Simone Biles IG caption sent me into shambles. That was such a menace move! 😂
— Rachel Sheffield (@fabulousray20) July 31, 2024
But the drama didn’t end there. On July 31, Biles took to X/ Twitter to reveal that Skinner had blocked her Instagram. “oop I’ve been blocked,” adding several emojis. Though Biles didn’t reveal who had blocked her, it’s easy to assume it was Skinner given the ways Biles shaded her on Instagram.
oop I’ve been blocked 👀🫢😂
— Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) July 31, 2024
Jordan Chiles, who competed with Biles at the 2024 Summer Olympics, then entered the chat by sharing on her IG Story that Skinner had also blocked her.
TBH, it seems like both Biles and Chiles aren’t bothered by Skinner blocking them one bit. I, for one, will be keeping a lookout for any new info surrounding this online drama because I’m way too invested at this point.