Failed ESPN Talking Head Katie Nolan Criticizes Riley Gaines Over Feud With Simone Biles

Katie Nolan, whose ESPN show "Always Late" tanked in under two years, waded into the heated Riley Gaines-Simone Biles feud with a predictably leftist tirade. 

On her "Casuals" podcast, Nolan took aim at the OutKick host and women's rights advocate who advocates to keep men out of women’s sports. 

READ: Simone Biles' Conciliatory Tone With Riley Gaines Gets Husband And NFL Player Jonathan Owens Involved In Feud

Nolan accused Gaines of fearmongering in a long-winded tirade.

"You’re not protecting women’s sports," Nolan sneered. "Simone Biles is."

NEW YORK, NY - JULY 15: Katie Nolan attends 'Crowd Goes W!ld' press preview at Lounge 48 on July 15, 2013 in New York City.  (Photo by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images)

Nolan, 38, dismissed Gaines’ concerns about trans athletes as unhinged. 

"This is one of many narratives, that if you spend any time reading these people’s arguments and what they think are solid points, it comes up a lot," she said. 

"It’s a talking point that is so insane … they think that a transgender athlete being in a locker room would force every other girl on that team to be naked in front of a transgender athlete. It is such a leap of a thing that could happen, as is any argument that anybody passionately makes against trans athletes in sports."

READ: Simone Biles Apologizes For 'Personal' Attack On Riley Gaines, Adjusts Stance On Trans Athletes

Nolan also scoffed at the Minnesota high school softball controversy — where a trans-identifying male pitched their team to a state championship — calling it media-stoked outrage. 

"It’s a bunch of media companies who also participate in this, send their followers to attack high school kids," Nolan said, questioning how Gaines "sleeps at night." 

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - JUNE 03: Riley Gaines attends the Folds Of Honor Tennessee Rock N' Jock Celebrity Softball Game at First Horizon Park on June 03, 2024 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Terry Wyatt/Getty Images)

USA's Simone Biles looks on during the artistic gymnastics women's team final during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. (Photo by LOIC VENANCE/AFP via Getty Images)

Echoing left-leaning critics like USA Today’s Nancy Armour and former ESPNer Keith Olbermann, Nolan rejected Gaines’ stance and critiques of Simone Biles after the latter spoke out in favor of including trans athletes. 

READ: Social Media Rips Simone Biles' Apology To Riley Gaines As PR Statement

"There’s never a nuanced, interesting argument. There’s never a solution being offered," Nolan continued. "Trans women are not men. That’s where the disconnect is happening. Men go into women’s sports and do evil things all the time. We don’t have to come up with some fantasy scenario where this might happen. It’s happening. And you know that, because you’re tweeting it at the woman it happened to."

Nolan’s lecture leaned hard into the progressive ideology, claiming exclusion is the enemy. 

"I just am sick of people acting like keeping people out of sports is some revolutionary position to take, when actually, if you look through the history of sports, it’s kind of the establishment. Sports loves to keep people out. And fighting for inclusion in sports is actually the radical position to take. And I love that Simone Biles has taken that position."

The feud between Gaines and Biles ignited when the Olympic star blasted Gaines on X: "@Riley_Gaines_ You’re truly sick, all of this campaigning because you lost a race. Straight up sore loser. 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. 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!!!!!"

Riley Gaines, a former NCAA swimmer, campaigns against trans athletes like Lia Thomas by highlighting the lack of fairness for real women. (Getty Images)

Nolan, no stranger to polarizing takes after calling Donald Trump a "stupid person" on Desus & Mero in 2018, casts herself as a champion of inclusion. 

But her sanctimonious rant was undermined by Biles, who apologized for her harsh words toward Gaines, partially pulling the rug out from Nolan’s virtue-signaling.

Katie Nolan's crusade for "inclusion" might play well in leftist circles, but with Gaines gaining ground and Biles backtracking, Nolan’s soapbox looks shakier than ever.

Send us your thoughts: alejandro.avila@outkick.com / Follow along on X: @alejandroaveela