“I accept Simone’s apology for the personal attacks, including those where she body-shamed me. I understand that she knows what this feels like. Nonetheless, she remains the greatest female gymnast of all time,” Gaines expressed in a post on X.
I accept Simone’s apology for the personal attacks, including the instances where she body-shamed me. I understand that she knows what this feels like. Nonetheless, she remains the greatest female gymnast of all time.
A couple of things. Sports ARE inclusive by nature. Anyone can and everyone SHOULD play… https://t.co/V8YbMvs3xf
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) June 10, 2025
This came in response to Biles’ detailed statement where the Olympic legend apologized for the personal attacks directed at Gaines. However, Biles’ apology did not fully acknowledge the issue of boys participating in girls’ sports, maintaining her belief that “competitive equity & inclusivity are both essential in sport.” She suggested that advocating for “inclusiveness” does not equate to supporting policies that compromise fairness in women’s sports, as reported by RedState.
I wanted to follow up from my last tweets. I’ve always believed competitive equity & inclusivity are both essential in sport. The current system doesn’t adequately balance these important principles, which often leads to frustration and heated exchanges, and it didn’t help for me…
— Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) June 10, 2025
“A couple of things. Sports ARE inclusive by nature,” Gaines’ message to Biles read. “Anyone can, and everyone SHOULD play sports. Competition, on the other hand, and by definition, is exclusive. So the idea of ‘competitive equity’ is nonsensical.”
“Secondly, the boys are publicly humiliating the girls,” she added. “To suggest that women and girls must be silent or ignore a boy who is PUBLICLY hurting or humiliating them is wrong. You can’t have any empathy and compassion for the girls if you’re ignoring when young men are harming or abusing them. I am not ashamed to be a voice for the voiceless.”
Gaines found agreement with Biles that “the blame is on the lawmakers and leaders at the top” who are allowing biological boys to play against girls in female sports.
Before she pointed out that this is exactly why she joined President Donald Trump at the signing of his Executive Order banning men from competing in women’s sports, she said it’s also why she’s suing the NCAA and standing with those who support women’s rights on this issue.
Lastly, Gaines pointed out that she hasn’t seen Biles out there championing this effort with her giant platform and welcomed her to the fight for “fair sports and a future for female athletes. Little girls deserve the same shot to achieve that you had.”
“Women’s sports can’t be used as an excuse for girls to center the feelings and validation of men and boys,” she added.
The Gaines-Biles feud initially started when Biles criticized Gaines for her reaction to a tweet posted to a high school girls’ softball team’s account, noting that the tweet’s replies were turned off, which happens “when your star player is a boy,” according to RedState.
Biles attacked Gaines personally. She wrote:
But instead… You bully them…
One things for sure is no one in sports is safe with you around!!!!!
In the second tweet, Biles wrote, “Bully someone your own size, which would ironically be a male @Riley_Gaines_.”
Gaines then hit back and wrote, “This is so disappointing. My take is the least controversial take on the planet. Simone Biles being a male-apologist at the expense of young girls’ dreams…”
Later, an old tweet resurfaced of Biles in which she admitted in 2017 that it was a “good thing guys don’t compete against girls or he’d take all the gold medals,” RedState reported.
Given all that went down, it’s fair to assume Biles’ lucrative endorsements were threatened, and she had to issue this apology to try and stop the bleeding, so to speak. We shall see if this does it.
