Simone Biles Has a Message For People Telling Her to “Leave” Her Husband

The most decorated gymnast of all time has spoken...and would rather you not.

Simone Biles and Jonathan Owens attend a game between the Houston Rockets and the Los Angeles Lakers at Toyota Center on January 29, 2024 in Houston, Texas.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Simone Biles has a not-so-subtle message for anyone who thinks she should leave her husband, NFL player Jonathan Owens.

On Thursday, April 25, the most decorated gymnast of all-time leaned all the way into a recent TikTok trend, posting to her personal account a video addressing naysayers who think she should end her marriage to the Chicago Bears safety.

In the video, Biles faces the camera as she tears off a piece of tape while various online comments attacking her husband and their relationship appear on the screen.

The comments include "Mr. Biles," "Simone & what's his name again," "Whose that guy," "Still don't know his name," and "Leave him sis."

Biles then mouths along to a voiceover from a woman saying: "This is for your mouth. Let me know if you need a bigger piece." She then mimics placing the tape over someone's mouth by placing it on the camera.

@simonebilesowens

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Simone's husband faced intense scrutiny and backlash after he claimed he was "the catch" in their relationship during an interview on The Pivot podcast this past December.

"I always say that the men are the catch," he said at the time, adding that he "was fighting" against his innate fear of commitment before he and Biles officially began dating.

He also claimed he had no idea who Biles was when they first connected, despite her massive success as an Olympic gymnast, which catapulted her into stardom and turned her into a household name.

In a recent interview on the Call Her Daddy podcast with Alex Cooper, Biles opened up about her initial response to her husband's comments and the backlash he (and her) received as a result.

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A photo posted by jowens on

"I was in the room, I was sitting on the chair," she said at the time. "You just couldn't see me on the videos. I was there for the whole entire video. I was feeling great. I was like: 'My man just killed that.'"

Biles then went on X, formerly known as Twitter, and saw the almost instant backlash.

"Everybody's like, 'Divorce this man, he's mean,'" she recalled. "And I'm like, he's the sweetest. He praises the ground that I walk on. Like truly, I've never met a man like him."

Biles went on to say that she thought the negative response "was hilarious at first," but after a while it hurt her feelings.

"And then like one night I broke down and I'm like: 'Why are you guys talking about my husband like this?' Like you don't know him, you don't know who he is, and if anybody's met him, they know he's the sweetest guy and will do anything for anybody," she explained.

"And so that really hurt that they were talking about my husband like that," she continued. "Because for me, it's like, talk about me all you want, but don't come for my family. Never."

Danielle Campoamor is an award-winning freelance writer covering mental health, reproductive justice, abortion access, maternal mental health, politics, celebrity, and feminist issues. She has been published in The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, NBC, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire, InStyle, Playboy, Teen Vogue, Glamour, The Daily Beast, and more.