Riley Gaines Fires Back At Simone Biles And Her 'Internalized Misogyny'

I don't think too many of us thought we'd spend our Friday night watching Simone Biles, one of, if not the greatest Olympic gymnast of all time, try to tank her legacy as a women's sports icon by taking a bizarre shot on social media at OutKick's Riley Gaines and making her support for men competing in women's sports clear.

I mean, she got her medals. The rest of you ladies are on your own, according to Simone.

Biles — who claims to be all about "body positivity" — even took a shot at Gaines' stature and appearance.

Well, Biles may still have a serious case of the long-term twisties from the Paris Olympics, because this is a bizarre hill to die on, and now Gaines has issued her response in an Instagram video that is shear perfection. 

"Yesterday, Simone Biles — the Olympic gymnast, the best of the best, bar none; there is no one even remotely in her league — I guess, in an attempt to be inclusive and virtuous, decided to sell out all girls who have dreams to achieve and to succeed, and to specifically personally attack and body shame me."

Gaines then ran through Biles' post which was pretty wild and included a self-own in which she noted that a trans-only category — read: not letting fellas compete against women and girls — was a solution, and a final line in which she claimed that "no one in sports" was safe with Gaines around.

It also included a line about how Gaines should be "uplifting" transgender athletes.

"Let's get this straight. It's my job. It's the women's job," the host of the Gaines for Girls podcast said. "This is what Simone Biles is saying: It's the women's job to find a way for the men's feelings to be validated, for their identity to be affirmed. That's not my job, actually, at all. So to say I should be doing this is insane. 

"If she (Biles) wants to use her platform to uplift men and women's sports, then, by all means, but it's certainly not my job. And I don't believe it's the job of any woman to do this."

OutKick's Riley Gaines responded to a bizarre attack on social media from Olympic medalist Simone Biles. (Getty Images)

In a second post, Biles told Gaines to "bully someone your own size, which would ironically be a male."

"Number one, she's acknowledging there are differences, like physiological, biological differences, between men and women in saying this," Gaines said, highlighting a sweet irony that clearly flew over Biles' head. "Secondly, I'm 5-foot-5, which might seem like a giant to someone who's like, 4-foot-7, 4-foot-8, but I'm pretty standard size for a woman, just, like, relatively muscular, right? Being an athlete, I would imagine Simone would understand that. 

"But I weigh like 135 pounds, 5-foot-5 of pretty much pure muscle. Again, if anyone would understand that, you would think it's Simone Biles, a woman who has historically been scrutinized for having a very muscular, masculine-looking body."

Gaines did commend Biles for calling out the atrocities committed by sexual predator Larry Nassar, but noted an unsettling contradiction.

"This is a woman who has been incredibly brave in calling out and witnessing the horrific sexual abuse that she and hundreds of other female gymnasts faced at the hands of one sexual predator — that predator being Larry Nassar — in the same breath, believing that vulnerable women should be forced to strip down naked in front of men and locker rooms, so long as it makes the man feel happy," Gaines said. "If Larry Nassar came out as trans, I don't think it's responsible or safe for him to be housed in a women's prison."

Gaines went on to note how "if Simone's inclusive dream came true, she would have zero Olympic medals and no one would even know who she is," and how Biles had "pulled up the ladder" behind her like others, including Megan Rapinoe. Neither will have to compete against men, but are OK with other women and girls having to do so.

"Simone Biles, having internalized misogyny and being a male apologist, was certainly not on my 2025 bingo card," Gaines said.