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

♬ Emily shuts up Michelle - floppytart

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.

A post shared by Jonathan Owens 🏈

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
Weekend Editor

Danielle Campoamor is Marie Claire's weekend editor covering all things news, celebrity, politics, culture, live events, and more. In addition, she is an award-winning freelance writer and former NBC journalist with over a decade of digital media experience covering mental health, reproductive justice, abortion access, maternal mortality, gun violence, climate change, politics, celebrity news, culture, online trends, wellness, gender-based violence and other feminist issues. You can find her work in The New York Times, Washington Post, TIME, New York Magazine, CNN, MSNBC, NBC, TODAY, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire, InStyle, Playboy, Teen Vogue, Glamour, The Daily Beast, Mother Jones, Prism, Newsweek, Slate, HuffPost and more. She currently lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband and their two feral sons. When she is not writing, editing or doom scrolling she enjoys reading, cooking, debating current events and politics, traveling to Seattle to see her dear friends and losing Pokémon battles against her ruthless offspring. You can find her on X, Instagram, Threads, Facebook and all the places.