*Olympic gymnast MyKayla Skinner has finally spoken out regarding her high-profile social media feud with Simone Biles.
This conflict arose after controversial comments Skinner, 27, made about her former Olympic teammates resurfaced last week, which Biles, 27, brought to light.
We reported earlier via CNN, that Biles clapped back at criticism from Skinner following the US gymnastics team’s victory at the Paris Olympics last month.
Biles shared photos of herself and teammates Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey, and Hezly Rivera celebrating their gold medal performance in the team gymnastics final, with the caption “lack of talent, lazy, olympic champions.”
The Instagram post was a response to comments from Skinner who criticized the Team USA gymnasts in a YouTube video following the team selection on June 30.
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A post shared by Simone Biles (@simonebiles)
“Besides Simone, I feel like the talent and the depth just isn’t like what it used to be,” she said in the video, which has since been deleted. “A lot of girls don’t work as hard,” she added. “The girls just don’t have the work ethic.”
Skinner has faced significant backlash from Biles’ fans recently, and she is now urging the acclaimed gymnast to put a stop to it.
In a video message Skinner posted Tuesday to Instagram, she asks Biles “to please put a stop” to the cyberbullying that “has led to threats of physical harm to me, my husband and our daughter.”
She added, “I sincerely hoped that this topic wouldn’t need to be revisited. But unfortunately things have really gotten out of hand lately, and it’s one thing to disagree with me regarding something I’ve said or a point I was trying to make, but it’s something else entirely when that turns into cyberbullying or even worse.”
Skinner said she’s “asking for it to just stop for the sake of my family, because enough is enough.”
“I made a comment about work ethic and what seems to be taking place with the rising generation,” she said. “To be totally clear, I take 100% responsibility for poorly articulating the point I was trying to make, and the last thing I wanted was to cause harm or offend our US Olympic team.”
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A post shared by MyKayla Skinner (Harmer) (@mykaylaskinner2016)
Skiller called the US gymnastics team “incredible” women and “the very best of the best.”
“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, but not just heartbroken because it isn’t how I feel or even what I previously said but heartbroken because Simone’s latest post and others that followed it fueled another wave of hateful comments,” she said.
“My family and my friends don’t deserve to be caught in a crossfire here,” Skinner added.
“They’ve done nothing. So to Simone, I am asking you directly and publicly to please put a stop to this. Please ask your followers to stop. You have been an incredible champion for mental health awareness and a lot of people need your help now. We’ve been hurt and attacked in ways that I am certain you never intended.”
READ MORE FROM EURWEB.COM: Olympic Beefin’ – Behind the Drama Between Simone Biles and MyKayla Skinner | VIDEO
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