Gabby Douglas is coming forward.
As we reported, after Simone Biles criticized her (apparent) victim shaming remarks against teammate Aly Raisman, Douglas said her comments about women needing to “dress modestly” were not correctly worded, and she “is sorry for coming off like I don’t stand alongside my teammates.”
On Tuesday, the 21-year-old claims she — alongside Raisman and 2012 teammate McKayla Maroney — was sexually abused by USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar.
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The gold medalist begins her statement by addressing her controversial comments, and reiterates her belief that a victim never deserves abuse based on their choice of clothing. Douglas said:
“I know that no matter what you wear, it NEVER gives anyone the right to harass or abuse you. It would be like saying that because of the leotards we wore, it was our fault that we were abused by Larry Nassar.”
As to why she stayed silent for all these years, the athlete says she was “conditioned” to keep her mouth shut about her “extremely painful” experiences.
“I didn’t publicly share my experiences as well as many other things because for years we were conditioned to stay silent and honestly some things were extremely painful. I wholeheartedly support my teammates for coming forward with what happened to them.”
Truly heartbreaking…
[Image via Eugene Powers/WENN.]
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