Fans suggest gymnasts ft. Simone Biles & Suni Lee have unfollowed MyKayla Skinner after controversial statement against U.S. Olympic gymnastics team

The US gymnastics team for the Paris Olympics was finalized on 30 June, and it included Simone Biles, Jordan Chiles, Sunisa Lee, Jade Carey, and Hezly Rivera. Following this, Tokyo Olympics silver medalist MyKayla Skinner made a controversial statement about the team that resulted in some of the gymnasts, including Biles and Lee, apparently unfollowing Skinner on social media, as per fans.

The 27-year-old made the statement in a two-hour watch party on YouTube, which featured her reaction to the final announcement of the 2024 Olympic team. Making an exception for Simone Biles, she took a dig at the gymnasts and questioned their work ethic.

"Besides Simone, I feel like the talent and the depth just isn't what it used to be," MyKayla Skinner said. "I mean, obviously, a lot of girls don't work as hard. The girls just don't have the work ethic."

She added:

"Not saying anything to the girls that got injured, but if I could come back, I think I would be able to do it. And I think I probably could've made that Olympic team."

After this statement, some of the Olympians unfollowed the gymnast on Instagram. One of them was Simone Biles, who also shared a post on Threads, that read:

"Not everyone needs a mic and a platform."

Post by @simonebiles

View on Threads

Amidst the controversy, Biles seemingly unfollowed the 27-year-old on Instagram, as per a fan who posted on X:

Another gymnast who apparently unfollowed Skinner was Sunisa Lee. A user posted about the same on X with the caption:

"LMAO Suni unfollowing MyKayla is so funny she was not taking any of her BS💀"

Jade Carey, who has also made the Olympic team, supposedly unfollowed Skinner as well. Along with them, Hezley Rivera, who is a newcomer to the Olympic team, also seemingly removed Skinner from her following list on Instagram, as per another X user.

Along with Biles, Lee, Carey, and Rivera, Jordan Chiles also does not follow Skinner on Instagram.

Jordan Chiles unfollowed MyKayla Skinner

Another name on the list is Joscelyn Roberson, who is going to Paris as a replacement athlete, and is also not associated with Skinner on social media. It is unclear whether Chiles and Roberson followed Skinner before the latter's controversial comments on the U.S. Olympics Gymnastics team.

Joscelyn Roberson unfollowed MyKayla Skinner

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Did MyKayla Skinner apologize after the controversy?

After the incident and the following events, MyKayla Skinner apologized on her Instagram story on July 3, where she said that her statements had been misinterpreted. (via SportingNews.com)

"I know we did the re-cap on YouTube, and I feel like a lot of you guys had misinterpreted or misunderstood exactly what I was meaning or had said," said MyKayla Skinner. "A lot of the stuff I was talking about wasn’t always necessarily about the current team because I love and support all the girls that made it, and I’m so proud of them."

She added:

"It was more about going back into my own gym and the work ethic is different compared to when we were doing gymnastics in the Marta era. I’m not sticking up for Marta or saying what she did was good. I’m just saying it was different."

Showcasing her happiness over the selection of the US Olympic team, she further added:

"So sorry for anything that got out of context or seemed hurtful; I love those girls and I'm seriously so happy for them so I would never do anything to make them feel otherwise."

MyKayla Skinner competed at the Tokyo Olympics, where she won a silver in the vault final. She initially did not qualify for any of the events but was added to the team after Biles dropped out. The 27-year-old announced her retirement from competitive gymnastics in 2021.