Whew! Simone Biles and Riley Gaines have sparked reactions on social media after getting into a heated exchange online. It all started when Riley called out a Minnesota high school softball team for winning a state championship with a transgender pitcher. Here’s what went down..
RELATED: Let Em’ Know! Gabby Douglas Calls Out Social Media User For Bullying And Comparing Her To Simone Biles
Simone Biles Enters The Chat After Riley Gaines Criticizes A Transgender Athlete
Riley Gaines hopped on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday, June 6, replying to a pic of Minnesota’s high school softball team celebrating their 2025 championship. The former swimmer called out the team for turning off their comments and claimed they only won because their star player is a boy. Folks on X wasted no time dragging her, and even Simone Biles stepped in, basically telling Riley to find someone else to play with.
“bully someone your own size, which would ironically be a male @Riley_Gaines_,” Biles wrote.
Simone kept her foot on the gas, coming back at Riley on X, saying she was just being a sore loser after losing to a transgender swimmer in the 200m freestyle at the NCAA championships. Biles told Riley straight up that she should be focusing on making sports more inclusive instead of clowning and tearing folks down.
“@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 things for sure is no one in sports is safe with you around!!!!!” Biles added.
Riley Gaines Escalates Feud By Bringing Up Simone Biles’ Past Abuse
Riley and Simone kept going at it online, but Riley took it a step further by bringing up the sexual abuse Simone experienced with former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar. Simone testified against him in 2021. Nassar was later hit with a 60-year prison sentence in 2017 after assaulting several young girls, according to USA Today.
In a post on X, Riley said she couldn’t believe Simone would cosign women having to undress around transgender men. She even threw in another jab, saying if Simone’s inclusive dreams actually played out, she wouldn’t have any gold medals.
“All the horrific sexual abuse @Simone_Biles witnessed and spoke out against caused by one man, yet believes women should be forced to strip naked in front of men to validate the man’s feelings. You know how many gold medals you’d have if your ‘inclusive’ dream came true? Zero,” Riley wrote.
To make my position on both topics very, very, very clear:
– I hope Larry Nassar spends the rest of his life rotting away and miserable in prison. Gymnasts were failed by a system that protected an abusive man at the expense of the girls' safety.
– men don't belong in women's…
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) June 7, 2025
Riley kept coming at Simone, replying to a USA Today post on X that gave Simone props for supporting the trans community. Riley argued that the Olympic gymnast didn’t actually stand up for transgender individuals but instead went after her for standing up for women and girls.
“She hardly ‘stood up for the trans community’, but instead just personally attacked someone who stands up for women and girls. Prepare for an astronomically embarrassing ratio,” Riley continued.
She hardly "stood up for the trans community", but instead just personally attacked someone who stands up for women and girls.
Prepare for an astronomically embarrassing ratio. https://t.co/g45xSomG1B
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) June 7, 2025
Social Media Weighs In
Riley and Simone’s back-and-forth had folks going OFF all over social media. In The Shade Room’s comment section, some people agreed with Simone, while others were riding with Riley. See some of their thoughts below.
Instagram user @pyt_tmc wrote, “Simone is literally saying instead of bullying find a way to make sports more inclusive … so what is it that some of y’all are disagreeing with?”
Instagram user @iluvannahii wrote, “either way people who are trans need to have their own divisions women have fought too hard to compete in sports.
While Instagram user @vladtv wrote, “I love Simone Biles but I’m with Riley on this one. Winning a championship because you have a male on your team is cheating and unfair to the young girls who worked hard to get there.”
Then Instagram user @amina621134 wrote, “Bringing up her sexual assault is so dirty. Nobody has the right to use that against her.”
Another Instagram user @sexy_tangy wrote, “I like Simone… but I totally DISAGREE WITH HER. 😵💫”
Instagram user @beautychoseme wrote, “You know how many gold medals you’d have if your “inclusive” dreams came true? ZERO! She clocked Simone’s tea🤏🏿🤏🏿🤏🏿🤏🏿”
While another Instagram user @wavykendoll wrote, “It’s always US who don’t read…Simone is against the unnecessary disrespect. She also said trans should have their own category instead of being shunned from the sports altogether.”
Instagram user @_mykeemillion wrote, “We’re not canceling Simone Biles 🤷🏽♂️ next story ….”
Finally, Instagram user @clkchris wrote, “There is no reason men should be competing with women, if you were born a man you should not compete with women, no matter what you think you are.”
