“Nasty” - Piers Morgan slams Simone Biles for 'body shaming' Riley Gaines over controversy on transgender athletes

Simone Biles and Riley Gaines recently had a spat over the participation of transgender athletes in women's sports. This garnered the attention of the British journalist Piers Morgan, who slammed the gymnast for body-shaming Gaines.

Gaines, who actively protests against the participation of transgender athletes in women's sports, recently took a dig at Marissa Rothenberger, who is a transgender athlete who threw a shutout, helping Champlin Park High School win a state title at the State Softball Championships.

Following this, the Olympic champion, Biles, criticized the former swimmer, stating that she should stop bullying transgender athletes and make a safer space for them in the sports community. This was followed by Gaines' reply, calling the gymnast's comment disappointing, and then Biles went on with another reply that read:

"Bully someone your own size, which would ironically be a male @Riley_Gaines_."

Amid this controversial row, the gymnast's comment did not sit well with the British journalist, Morgan, who criticized her for pointing fingers at Gaines, suggesting that Biles stop body-shaming. Calling her comment 'nasty,' he wrote:

"Nasty. Riley’s done more than you ever have to protect women’s rights in sport. So, I suggest you stop body-shaming her, and stop pretending that having trans athletes compete in women’s sport ‘uplifts’ anything but grotesque unfairness, inequality and danger."

Gaines started advocating for excluding transgender athletes in women's sports after she and Lia Thomas tied for fifth place in the 200-yard freestyle. Still, only Thomas, a transgender swimmer, was awarded the trophy.

Riley Gaines opened up about Simone Biles' protest during the Larry Nassar case

Shortly after Simone Biles slammed Riley Gaines for calling out the transgender athlete in the softball championship, the latter also disparaged the gymnast's take, speaking about the Larry Nassar case. Nassar is the former USA Gymnastics doctor who sexually abused young female athletes and is currently serving a 60-year federal prison sentence.

One of the most vocal athletes during this case was Biles, and highlighting this, Gaines wrote on X:

"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 Gaines went on to criticize Simone Biles for personally attacking her and shared a picture of Lia Thomas, the transgender swimmer, on her X handle, stating:

"To Simone Biles, these women are manly, but this guy is a beautiful woman lol."

Earlier on the same day, Gaines shared an old video of Biles talking about the Nassar case, where the gymnast wasn't able to contain her emotions and broke down in tears. Along with this, she shared a snapshot of the gymnast's recent tweet about taking a dig at Gaines and wrote:

"Simone Biles when she had to endure a predatory man Vs Simone Biles when other girls have to endure predatory men."

Riley Gaines was associated with the University of Kentucky for four years and retired from the sport in April 2022.