In an Instagram post on Tuesday, Olympian Gabby Douglas, 21, added her name to the long list of gymnasts who say they were sexually abused by Larry Nassar, the one-time doctor for the USA Gymnastics team.
Douglas posted a lengthy message in which she responded to criticism that she’d victim-shamed 2016 teammate Aly Raisman on Friday by tweeting that it’s a woman’s duty to “dress modestly” so as not to attract “the wrong crowd.”
In doing so, she implied that she too had been abused by Nassar, who’s been accused by more than 100 girls and women of sexual assault during his tenure with as a team doctor.
“I didn’t view my comments as victim shaming because I know that no matter what you wear, it NEVER gives anyone the right to harass or abuse you,” Douglas wrote. “It would be like saying that because of the leotards we wore, it was our fault that we were abused by Larry Nassar.”
Https://www.instagram.com/p/BbxTYd-FAQQ/
Douglas’s spokesperson has confirmed that the 2016 Olympic gold medalist was in fact accusing Nassar of sexual abuse. McKayla Maroney and Raisman, Douglas’s teammates at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, respectively, have already leveled similar claims against the doctor.
Nassar served as USA Gymnastics’ team physician for nearly 20 years, starting in 1996. The organization fired him in 2015. In June, Nassar pleaded guilty to federal child pornography charges and faces up to 27 years in prison. His sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 7.
Nassar’s lawyer Matt Newberg told Coins2Day on Wednesday that because of a gag order, “we cannot comment” on Douglas’s allegations.
Douglas wrote her Instagram post to address comments she’d made in response to Raisman, who last week Tweeted that a woman’s “sexy” wardrobe doesn’t “give a man the right to shame her or not believe her when she comes forward with sexual abuse.” Douglas retweeted the message, but added that women have the responsibility to dress modestly and “be classy.”
“[D]ressing in a provocative/sexual way entices the wrong crowd,” Douglas wrote in the since-deleted message.
The comment prompted outcry of victim-shaming, including from Olympic champion Simone Biles, another 2016 teammate of Douglas’s, who said she was shocked by Douglas’s response.
“[H]onestly seeing this brings me to tears bc as your teammate I expected more from you & to support her,” Biles wrote.
In her Instagram post on Tuesday, Douglas said she didn’t share her “experiences” until now “because for years we were conditioned to stay silent and honestly some things were extremely painful,” she said. “I wholeheartedly support my teammates for coming forward with what happened to them.”
The sentiment seemed to echo criticism Raisman leveled at USA Gymnastics in a recent 60 Minutes interview. In the segment, Raisman asked what the organization had done “to manipulate these girls so much that they are so afraid to speak up?”
