By VIVIAN KWARM | vkwarm@nydailynews.com | New York Daily News
Four-time Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles opened up Tuesday about the backlash her husband faced when comments he made about their relationship went viral. The former Olympian says the calls for her to divorce Jonathan Owens caused her to “break down.”
“I thought it was hilarious at first, and then they hurt my feelings,” the world-renowned gymnast, 27, said on the Apr. 17 episode of the “Call Her Daddy” podcast.
“And then 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.’”
Biles also felt the online comments got out of hand.
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“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.’ Because I’ve been in the limelight long enough where I can brush things off, have my little pow-wow about it. You’re not going to know I cried about it, but I be crying about some stuff. But I only cry about it because I can’t clap back. Just know that.”
In December, Biles’ football player husband broke the internet in a controversial interview with “Pivot Podcast.” Owens claimed in the episode that, when he met Biles on a dating app, he “didn’t know” who she was.
When co-host Channing Crowder asked, “How in the hell did you pull did you pull Simone Biles?” Owen’s responded: “It’s really how did she pull me, that’s the question.”
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Co-host Ryan Clark then asked, ” You was really the catch?” The Chicago Bears player doubled down: “I always say the man (is) the catch.”
Biles was in the room during the interview and is seen smiling and laughing during the viral interaction.
“I was feeling great. I was like, ‘My man just killed that,’” she told “Call Her Daddy” host Alex Cooper. “Whenever he did that interview, I thought everything was OK. And then I go on Twitter and everybody’s like, ‘Divorce this man! He’s mean!’ 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.”
The gold medalist added, “First of all, that interview had nothing to do with me. It was all for him. So I think they were mad that he didn’t include me in the interview. But he has to have his moments too, and I let him have it.”
Following the viral interview, Biles responded to the online backlash tweeting to her followers, “Are y’all done yet?”
Meanwhile Owens also took to Instagram to let the world know he’s “unbothered.” In the Dec.21 post, he shared a photo of the couple at their wedding captioned, “Just know we locked in over here.”