MyKayla Skinner has urged her former teammate Simone Biles to help her after internet trolls allegedly threatened her and her family.
Now, the tea is well and truly hot in the world of gymnastics after former Team USA member MyKayla Skinner made a few controversial and highly critical comments about the current line-up of gymnasts representing the nation at the Paris Olympics.
"Besides Simone, I feel like the talent and the depth just isn't like what it used to be. Just notice like, I mean, obviously a lot of girls don't work as hard," the 27-year-old said in a now-deleted video. "The girls just don't have the work ethic."
But in true Team USA fashion, Simone Biles, Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey, and Hezly Rivera managed to prove Skinner wrong, securing themselves a gold medal in the Artistic Gymnastics Women's Team Final.
And just to add insult to injury, after their win, Biles took to Instagram to post a handful of photos of herself with her team alongside a savage caption that read: "Lack of talent, lazy, Olympic champions."
This then seemed to ignite a whirlwind of hate from social media users who slated Skinner for her harsh comments about the team. She also decided to block Biles on social media, as per a tweet posted by the gold medalist who wrote: "oop I’ve been blocked," alongside the eyes emoji and the laughing-face emoji.
But just days after the post, Skinner has now urged Biles for her help to stop the hate against her as it has allegedly spread to her family.
In the new video posted to Instagram, she alleged that there have been “disgusting” threats of “physical harm” towards, her husband Jonas Harmer, and their daughter, Charlotte.
She also acknowledged that her previous comments about the team were distasteful.
"I made a comment about work ethic and what seems to be taking place with the rising generation," she continued in the clip. "To be totally clear, I take 100 percent 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.
"I know these women are incredible, the very best of the best, and almost all of them are my former teammates who I have enjoyed very much cheering on the last few years," she added.
She then went on to explain that even after giving what she believed to be a genuine apology, she was surprised to see the drama being unearthed once more.
"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," she explained. "But not just heartbroken because it isn’t what I feel or even how I previously said, but because Simone’s latest post and others that followed it fueled another wave of hateful comments, DMs, articles, and emails.
"To Simone, I am asking you directly and publicly to please put a stop to this," she added. "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 attacked in ways that I’m certain you never intended.
"Your performance, the team’s performance, and the Olympics in general should be a time that we support one another," Skinner concluded.
While Biles hasn't directly responded to the 27-year-old's request, she did tell PEOPLE prior to it that it was "important" to her to defend her teammates.
"It's important because you have to teach them to use their voices and if not, you're a voice for the voiceless..." the champion athlete said.
"I just felt like it was right in that moment to stand up for them, because they're so young and they haven't fully stood in their power yet," she added.
Let's hope all this drama can be put to bed once and for all - and it goes without saying that the messages Skinner has been receiving from trolls are completely unacceptable.
