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In case you hadn't heard, Simone Biles withdrew from some events at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics this week. While many were supportive of Biles prioritizing her mental health, not everyone has been so kind.
No sooner had the USA Gymnastics team announced Biles withdrawal from the final team event than Piers Morgan condemned the act as covering for simple mistakes.
Bullying successful women is a coping mechanism for a lot of mediocre men.— Ahmed Ali (@Ahmed Ali) 1627487191
Morgan shared his thoughts on Twitter and in a column for The Daily Mail.
*NEW COLUMN*\nSorry Simone Biles, but there\u2019s nothing heroic or brave about quitting because you\u2019re not having \u2018fun\u2019 \u2013 you let down your team-mates, your fans and your country.\nhttps://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9835069/PIERS-MORGAN-Sorry-Simone-boast-GOAT-selfishly-quit.html\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/eIlZsqqRHo— Piers Morgan (@Piers Morgan) 1627475821
This is from a man unable to withstand 30 secs of mild criticism from his weatherman before quitting. \nKids need people who don't belittle mental health as role models.pic.twitter.com/ObxtTbPGpF— Brian Moore (@Brian Moore) 1627416472
Not coincidentally most of the criticism of Naomi Osaka and Simone Biles is from white men whose major physical achievement is running their mouths.https://twitter.com/brianmoore666/status/1420113732470980612\u00a0\u2026— Darlene (I am not your partisan) Strozut\u2614\ufe0f (@Darlene (I am not your partisan) Strozut\u2614\ufe0f) 1627453371
In the column, Morgan explained his support of Biles being a confident and cocky athlete, but thinks her explanation as to why she stepped away from some Olympic events wasn't good enough.
It\u2019s amazing that women get called \u201cemotional\u201d when I have never seen more men throwing tantrums about Simone Biles.— Chelsea Handler (@Chelsea Handler) 1627499255
The correlation between \u201cpeople ripping Simone Biles\u201d and \u201cscrawny bearded white men who\u2019ve never played a sport\u201d seems to be 100%.— Bryan Behar (@Bryan Behar) 1627515144
Some of these soggy white men complaining about Simone Biles.... \n\nLike do they not know that she is probably strong enough to snap a lot of them in half-- on her worst days? FOH— Karen Attiah (@Karen Attiah) 1627485268
In response to the portion of Biles' own statement about why she withdrew, saying she wasn't having fun and she feels she's doing too much to please other people, Morgan latched on to a criticism.
He wrote:
"Sorry, WHAT? You're not just at these Games for yourself, Simone."
"You are part of Team USA, representing the United States of America, and hundreds of millions of American people watching back home, not to mention all the sponsors who've paid huge sums to support you."
"And when you quit, you were performing as part of a gymnastics team, not yourself. It's also not supposed to just be about having fun."
Morgan's words were not taken kindly across the internet, who felt the opinion piece had gone too far.
piers morgan's entire career was built on attacking women more famous, athletic, accomplished, and beautiful than he is in order to get attention for himself— Erin And A Half Ryan (@Erin And A Half Ryan) 1627504722
It feels not only disingenuous, but misleading to not talk about race and, yes, especially when it\u2019s a POC who is a woman (or conversely, white men).— Naveed Jamali (@Naveed Jamali) 1627557997
Piers Morgan weighs in....pic.twitter.com/E6ISbPymVO— Amy Siskind \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 (@Amy Siskind \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08) 1627510903
And that\u2019s putting it nicely, @piersmorgan because there are so many better suited words to use than \u201cmediocre\u201d. Trust.https://twitter.com/mrahmednurali/status/1420410347937226754\u00a0\u2026— Jean Grey (@Jean Grey) 1627524271
Good morning to everyone except @piersmorgan— Karen Attiah (@Karen Attiah) 1627485190
Morgan is an old hand when it comes to criticizing Black women.
He was noted for his mocking and criticisms against Meghan Markle, especially her claims of racism from some members of the royal family. More recently, he made fun of Naomi Osaka when she lit the Tokyo Olympic flame.
Morgan's opinion piece on Biles continued, saying at the World Championships in 2018, she didn't pull out of the competition after falling, the way she did at the Olympics.
Biles decision has the support of the USA Gymnastics team, other athletes who've competed at the top of their game and fans the world over.
She hardly needs a British gossip writer with a bad track record of racism and misogyny to approve.
Everyone judging @Simone_Biles doesnt know their foot from their asshole when it comes to being in her position.Shes on the Olympic team while you\u2019re on Twitter.Whatever is going on cannot be grasped from outside.She\u2019s doing the absolute best she can given the situation she\u2019s in.— Ronda Rousey (@Ronda Rousey) 1627408362
Attention @piersmorgan.https://twitter.com/choo_ek/status/1420510793884311552\u00a0\u2026— Just Breathe (@Just Breathe) 1627517983
Piers Morgan bullied #NaomiOsaka, he is now bullying #SimoneBiles and has been bullying #MeghanMarkle for 4 years. It seems like he has a problem with black women setting boundaries. Yet he won't last day on their shoes.— Julieth \ud83c\udde8\ud83c\uddf4 (@Julieth \ud83c\udde8\ud83c\uddf4) 1627442220
Not surprised to see this from the likes of \u2066\u2066@piersmorgan\u2069 A person (I use that term lightly) that sits on his brains and criticizes people for a living. \u2066@Simone_Biles\u2069 is a hero. She stood up for herself in a very difficult position.https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9835069/PIERS-MORGAN-Sorry-Simone-boast-GOAT-selfishly-quit.html\u00a0\u2026— Ed Asner (@Ed Asner) 1627482890
didn't realise it was possible to get a debilitating injury if you accidentally threw to an ad break 20 seconds earlyhttps://twitter.com/piersmorgan/status/1420374908354322435\u00a0\u2026— alex kealy (@alex kealy) 1627516267
When she last spoke about Olympic events, Biles said she would take it one day at a time. She withdrew from the team event and the individual all-around event.
There are still four other Olympic artistic gymnastics events she may participate in, though one could hardly blame her if she chooses to withdraw entirely.