Biles seemed to throw shade at her former teammate on Instagram on July 30 following comments Skinner made about the women’s Olympic gymnastics team.
It seems like Simone Biles’ message to former teammate MyKayla Skinner has been received.
Biles, 27, posted on X (formerly known as Twitter), Wednesday, July 31, that Skinner — who she competed with on Team USA during the 2020 Tokyo Games — had blocked her on Instagram. Biles wrote, “oop I’ve been blocked,” adding several emojis.
Jordan Chiles, who is on the 2024 Olympics U.S. women’s artistic gymnastics team with Biles, shared a photo of someone holding a phone on her Instagram Stories around the same time. In the 23-year-old’s shot, the phone is clicked into Skinner’s Instagram profile, which shows “no posts yet.”
The drama dates back to June, when Skinner, 27, said in a now-deleted YouTube video that she felt the gymnasts selected for the 2024 team “don’t have the work ethic.” She added in the video, “Besides Simone, I feel like the talent and the depth just isn’t like what it used to be.”
Skinner then said her remarks were “misinterpreted.” In a response on her Instagram Stories on July 3, Skinner claimed that “a lot of the stuff” she talked about in the YouTube video “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 later issued an official statement to PEOPLE through her rep, saying in part, “I want to formally apologize to Team USA and to our gymnastic community for my comments during my recent YouTube episodes of the gymnastics Olympic trials.”
On Tuesday, July 30, Biles, Chiles and their teammates, Suni Lee, Hezly Rivera and Jade Carey, won gold in the women’s team all-around. Biles also became the most-decorated female gymnast in Olympic history.
A few hours later, Biles posted a photo of the group celebrating on Instagram, writing in the caption, “Lack of talent, lazy, olympic champions ❤️.” Many interpreted Biles’ note to be a direct clapback at Skinner.
Skinner has not responded publicly yet to any of the renewed back-and-forth over her original comments. She did, however, post a photo of the 2024 team from the Games with several heart emojis on her Instagram Stories on July 30.
For the Tokyo Games, Skinner was a solo competitor for the U.S. and not a part of Team USA’s women’s gymnastics team. Skinner originally did not qualify for any event final in Tokyo after competing on all four apparatuses during qualification rounds. Biles then withdrew from the individual vault final as she dealt with a case of the twisties, leaving space for Skinner to compete and ultimately win a silver medal.
At the time, she and Biles appeared to be close friends, championing each other on social media.
