Riley Gaines Defends Referencing Larry Nassar in Simone Biles Debate: ‘Stand By What I Said’

Riley Gaines defended invoking Simone Biles’ history of sexual abuse at the hands of former USA doctor and convicted child predator Larry Nassar in their debate about the inclusion of trans athletes in sports. 

Gaines, 25, appeared on “The Stephen A. Smith Show” podcast on Tuesday, June 10, where Smith, 57, asked the former University of Kentucky swimmer if she had “any regrets” about bringing up Nassar during her back-and-forth with Biles, 28, on social media last week. 

“I stand by what I said a hundred percent,” Gaines said. “But let me provide a little context. First of all, for clarity, I believe Larry Nassar is a monster who should spend every single waking second for the rest of his life miserable and rotting away in prison. Me and Simone certainly agree there.”

In 2016, Nassar was arrested and charged with possession of child pornography, of which he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 60 years. Nassar was also charged on several counts of criminal sexual misconduct, including two charges related to girls between the ages of 13 and 15 and one with a child under 13. He pled guilty and was sentenced to 4o to 175 years in prison. 

Amid the charges and subsequent trial, more than 60 women gave victim impact statements and more than 260 accused the disgraced trainer of sexual abuse. In 2018, Biles came forward as one of Nassar’s victims. 

Biles testified before the U.S. Senate in 2021 alongside fellow Team USA gymnasts Aly Raisman, Maggie Nichols and McKayla Maroney, alleging the FBI botched the investigation into Nassar and, as a result, allowed the abuse to continue.

Gaines, who now works as a contributor for Outkick, posted video of Biles’ testimony via X on Friday, June 6, writing: “Simone Biles when she had to endure a predatory man Vs Simone Biles when other girls have to endure predatory men,” attempting to conflate a convicted sexual predator with young, high school-aged trans athletes. 

Gaines told Smith she was using her “own personal experience that I can speak to” as the reason for the attempted comparison.

“Does it get more perverted than standing in the shower, totally undressed, when a six-foot-four man approaches you, stands in the shower head next to you, undresses himself fully naked and watches you shower?” Gaines argued. “That’s the context I was drawing. To me, that is sexual abuse. What me and my teammates had to go through was certainly sexual abuse.”

She added, “For clarity, I think what Simone and her teammates went through is condemnable and punishable beyond what we faced. There’s no doubt in my mind there.”

Gaines, however, criticized Biles for “attempting to silence” people like herself from speaking out on their feelings about trans athletes. 

“No girl should have to go through this, whether it is rape, whether it’s unwanted touching, whether its voyeurism, whether it’s indecent exposure, and no woman should ever ever be shamed for pointing out when men are abusing women,” Gaines argued. 

Gaines tried using her own experience appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee in June 2023 — where she discussed her experience swimming against Lia Thomas, the first openly trans woman champion in the NCAA women’s division — as additional motivation for posting the video of Biles talking about Nassar. (Gaines and Thomas tied for 5th place in the race, though Thomas was given the 5th place trophy to hold in photos.) 

“She got emotional in her testimony, I got emotional in my testimony describing this,” Gaines said. “That’s the conclusion I was drawing here: it’s easy to condemn Larry Nassar, but I believe it should be just as easy to condemn those who attempt to normalize or think it’s not on a scale of gross sexual offense against women and girls to have men undressing and showering next to women.”

(Studies have shown that trans people are more likely to be the victim of sexual and physical abuse than they are to be the perpetrator of abuse.) 

Smith, who criticized Gaines for referencing Nassar on the Monday, June 9, episode of his podcast, explained why he refused to push back this time. 

“You make a very, very valid point,” he told Gaines. “First of all, [it’s] your personal experience. Secondly, you’re a lady. I am not. So when you talk about what’s offensive to you, one of the things that I have a problem with – particularly with people on Capitol Hill – is when men are trying to tell women about their experiences.”

Biles issued a mea culpa on Tuesday, apologizing to Gaines for making things “personal.” (In a post on Friday, Biles called on Gaines to “bully someone your own size, which would ironically be a male.”)

“My objection is to be singling out children for public scrutiny in ways that feel personal and harmful,” Biles wrote via X. “Individual athletes — especially kids — should never be the focus of criticism of a flawed system they have no control over. I believe sports organizations have a responsibility to come up with rules supporting inclusion while maintaining fair competition. We all want a future for sport that is fair, inclusive, and respectful.”

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).