What’s Going on with Simone Biles and Riley Gaines? Inside Their Online Feud

Just like millions of others in the world, social media has become a place where celebrities also voice their opinions and call out each other without hesitation — which is exactly what happened between history-making Olympic gymnast Simone Biles and conservative activist Riley Gaines.

The topic of transgender athletes in sports has been a hot-button issue with the current Trump administration that is continuously making strides to ban them from competition. In June 2025, the administration threatened California with legal action after trans teen athlete AB Hernandez won the high school girls' high jump and triple jump at a state track meet, per CBS News.

On Friday, June 6, Simone took to X and slammed Riley’s anti-trans comments regarding a transgender high school softball player. The Minnesota State High School League celebrated their win on the platform in a post, to which Riley responded with “Comments off lol. To be expected when your star player is a boy.”

Simone caught wind of Riley's comment, for which she had already received considerable backlash for, and responded in a post of her own. “You’re truly sick, all of this campaigning because you lost a race. Straight up sore loser,” Simone began.

“You should be uplifting the trans community and perhaps finding a way to make sports inclusive OR creating a new avenue where trans feel safe in sports,” the most decorated gymnast in Olympic history continued. “Maybe a transgender category IN ALL sports!! But instead … You bully them … One thing's for sure is no one in sports is safe with you around!!!!!”

Simone ended her response with a final take, writing “Bully someone your own size, which would ironically be a male.”

Riley fired off a few replies to Simone, the first of which read: “This is actually so disappointing. It's not my job or the job of any woman to figure out how to include men in our spaces. You can uplift men stealing championships in women's sports with YOUR platform. Men don't belong in women's sports and I say that with my full chest.”

The former swimmer continued, adding “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? Didn’t have that on my bingo card. Maybe she could compete in pommel horse and rings in 2028. And the subtle hint at "body-shaming" ???? Plzzzz I'm 5'5""

On Tuesday, June 10, Simone shared an update with her fans on X regarding the situation in a lengthy post explaining her viewpoint. I wanted to follow up from my last tweets. I’ve always believed competitive equity & inclusivity are both essential in sport,” she began.

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 to get personal with Riley, which I apologize for,” Simone wrote. “These are sensitive, complicated issues that I truly don’t have the answers or solutions to, but I believe it starts with empathy and respect. I was not advocating for policies that compromise fairness in women’s sports.”

“My objection is to be singling out children for public scrutiny in ways that feel personal and harmful,” she continued. “Individual athletes — especially kids — should never be the focus of criticism of a flawed system they have no control over. I believe sports organizations have a responsibility to come up with rules supporting inclusion while maintaining fair competition. We all want a future for sport that is fair, inclusive, and respectful.”