Simone Biles Should Be Ashamed of Herself | Amber Harding
By bullying Riley Gaines online, the world's most decorated gymnast just earned herself a gold medal in hypocrisy.
PublishedJune 8, 2025 9:00 AM EDT•UpdatedJune 8, 2025 9:00 AM EDT
By now you're probably aware that Simone Biles and Riley Gaines are beefing on social media. Because for some reason, one of the most celebrated female athletes alive is revolted by the idea of another female athlete defending female athletes.
You get all that?
Let me start by saying: I’m not writing this to defend Riley. She doesn’t need me to. The girl has tougher skin than most and can handle her own. This isn't about Riley.
This is about Simone — and why she should be absolutely ashamed of herself.
Simone Biles and Riley Gaines are chirping at each other on X.
(Getty Images)
Biles recently jumped into the fray over transgender athletes by lobbing personal attacks at Riley, who has dedicated her life over the past few years to fighting for sex-based protections in sports. But rather than engage in actual debate, Simone went for the cheap shots: calling Riley a "sore loser," claiming she's "truly sick," and (most egregiously) body-shaming her with the line, "Bully someone your own size, which would ironically be a male."
Really, Simone? That's where we're at now?
Who's The Bully Here, Simone Biles?Aside from the fact that Riley Gaines is 5'5 and decidedly not "manly" (then again, everyone looks like a giant next to 4-foot-8 Simone), this was straight from the Mean Girls playbook — the kind of dig that would’ve earned a perfect 10 from Regina George and "The Plastics." The kind of behavior we swore we’d stop teaching our daughters. And the kind that’s especially rich coming from someone who has publicly talked about how painful it was to be mocked for her own muscular build.
But even more than cruel and hypocritical, it's disappointing.
Simone Biles isn't just some random online troll. She's the most decorated gymnast in history. A symbol of strength, excellence, and empowerment to millions of little girls. And now? She's spitting in those little girls' faces.
This is the same woman who once sat before Congress, tears in her eyes, describing the horrors she endured at the hands of Larry Nassar — and how the system failed her and so many other girls. So for her to now turn around and tell women to sit down and shut up as they’re forced to share locker rooms with biological males? Tone-deaf isn't a strong enough description. It's a betrayal.
Let's be clear: No one is suggesting that every trans-identifying male is a vile sexual abuser akin to Larry Nassar. But a male exposing himself to a female without her consent is still a crime and a violation of her rights. And that's exactly what happened to Riley and other swimmers, who were forced to undress in front of Lia Thomas in the name of "acceptance" and "inclusion."
She Must Have Forgotten How We Got HereHere's where Simone's hypocrisy really shines.
The very sport that made her a household name — gymnastics — doesn’t even pretend that male and female athletes are the same. Men and women don't compete against each other in gymnastics. In fact, they don't even compete in the same events. Because it's universally understood that their bodies are built differently. Yay for biology, right?
Women's gymnastics, by the way, wasn’t even included in the Olympics until 32 years after men's gymnastics debuted.
Somebody fought for that. Somebody paved the way so that athletes like Simone could compete, shine and dominate. But now, just like Megan Rapinoe, who cashed in on sex-based sports then retired in a blaze of smug condescension, Simone has no intention of paying it forward. As long as she's taken care of, who cares about the next generation of girls?
She'd rather play nice with the men who want to erase women's boundaries than stand up for the girls who look up to her.
Simone Biles is more interested in appeasing men than protecting women.
(Photo by Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images)
And it’s not just about sports, either.
When you tell a woman she looks like a man because she's strong, or outspoken, or refuses to be pushed around, you’re reinforcing the very stereotype that lets men believe that they can become women simply by growing their hair, painting on makeup and stuffing a bra. That mindset is what allows men to claim womanhood as a costume and allows Democrats to look you square in the eyeballs and tell you that the word "woman" can't even be defined.
Simone knows better. She is better. Or at least, she should be.
Women have fought for generations to secure sex-based protections — for fair competition, for privacy, for dignity. And for most of that time, we were fighting the "patriarchy." But today? The most vicious attacks aren't always coming from men in power.
Sometimes, they’re coming from women who made it to the top — then turned around and kicked the ladder down.