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Toronto Sun
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Toronto Sun
Simone Biles issues stunning apology to Riley Gaines after heated trans athletes feud
"It didn't help for me to get personal with Riley, which I apologize for," the U.S. Olympic legend posted on social media Simone Biles attends a Netflix event this month at Hollywood Athletic Club. Getty Images The debate over transgender athletes in sports has stirred up many heated debates, including one this week between Olympic legend Simone Biles and Riley Gaines, one of the most prominent conservative voices on the subject. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. 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Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account But after their heated online war of words took a personal turn, Biles issued a surprising statement apologizing to the former NCAA swimmer. Biles, who hadn't posted in days since her online sparring session with Gaines, took to X on Tuesday to expand on her original thoughts and also own up to her mistake. 'I wanted to follow up from my last tweets. I've always believed competitive equity and inclusivity are both essential in sport,' the 11-time Olympic medallist gymnast began the lengthy post. 'The current system doesn't adequately balance these important principles, which often leads to frustration and heated exchanges, and it didn't help for me to get personal with Riley, which I apologize for.' I wanted to follow up from my last tweets. I've always believed competitive equity & inclusivity are both essential in sport. The current system doesn't adequately balance these important principles, which often leads to frustration and heated exchanges, and it didn't help for me… — Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) June 10, 2025 Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The beef between Biles, 28, and Gaines, 25, unfolded late last week when the political activist shared a post about a Minnesota high school softball team winning a state championship with a transgender pitcher on its roster and noted that the comments were turned off, writing, 'To be expected when your star player is a boy.' In response, Biles wrote that Gaines was 'truly sick,' and referenced the former swimmer's infamous fifth-place tie with transgender athlete Lia Thomas at a championship event. @Riley_Gaines_ You're truly sick, all of this campaigning because you lost a race. Straight up sore loser. You should be uplifting the trans community and perhaps finding a way to make sports inclusive OR creating a new avenue where trans feel safe in sports. Maybe a transgender… — Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) June 6, 2025 This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'All of this campaigning because you lost a race. Straight up sore loser. You should be uplifting the trans community and perhaps finding a way to make sports inclusive OR creating a new avenue where trans feel safe in sports. Maybe a transgender category IN ALL sports!!' Biles continued. Biles later wrote 'bully someone your own size, which would ironically be a male.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. In her post on Tuesday, the three-time Olympian said that her main objection is that some policies put children in the spotlight for public scrutiny. 'These are sensitive, complicated issues that I truly don't have the answers or solutions to, but I believe it starts with empathy and respect,' Biles wrote. 'I was not advocating for policies that compromise fairness in women's sports. My objection is to be singling out children for public scrutiny in ways that feel personal and harmful. Read More 'Individual athletes — especially kids — should never be the focus of criticism of a flawed system they have no control over. I believe sports organizations have a responsibility to come up with rules supporting inclusion while maintaining fair competition. 'We all want a future for sport that is fair, inclusive, and respectful. Gaines accepted Biles' apology, replying: 'I welcome you to the fight to support fair sports and a future for female athletes. Little girls deserve the same shot to achieve that you had.' Check out our sports section for the latest news and analysis. Celebrity NHL Editorial Cartoons News Toronto & GTA
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
‘Is that about me?' Seth Rogen loves how ‘The Studio' keeps Hollywood guessing
Ever since viewers — especially those working in Hollywood — fell in love with The Studio, the series' creators Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg have gotten accustomed to people at cocktail parties leaning in confidentially and asking, hushed, 'How did you hear that story about me?' 'The people who it's actually based on don't think it's based on them, and the people who it's not based on want to think it's based on them!' Rogen told Gold Derby at Apple TV+'s FYC celebration at the Hollywood Athletic Club, erupting into his signature chuckle. 'It's a funny pattern.' More from GoldDerby 'The Hills of California' star Laura Donnelly on having to revamp her character in 10 days: 'I had a minor panic attack' 'Beatles '64' director David Tedeschi on working with Martin Scorsese to create something 'that has never been seen before' 'Lilo & Stitch' set for massive opening, making 'Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning' settle for 2nd 'When someone thinks it's based on them, it's best to let them,' Goldberg added. 'So many people have been like, 'I know where you got that idea!'' laughed costar and writer-producer Ike Barinholtz. 'Because I don't want to offend anyone. I'm like, 'Yeah, that's a lot of different ideas...' But I'm very touched when people see a little bit of themselves or something they recognize. To me it makes it resonate more with them.' Eric Charbonneau/Apple TV+ via Getty Images It's just one of the increasingly familiar aftereffects rippling toward Rogen, Goldberg, and their cast and creative team ever since The Studio found an appreciative mass audience and became required viewing for anyone working in Hollywood — both for the guessing game of Who inspired that? and the shock of recognition when the seemingly outrageous, high-stress behind-the-scenes scenarios hit a little too close to home. Some of it can be a little PTSD-triggering — or as Goldberg suggested, without the 'post,' because many of them 'are living it right now, every day.' Discovering the show was leaving showbiz insiders more than a little shook has actually been validating for Rogen. "A real fear I had was, 'The people we are truly discussing and analyzing — will it resonate with them? Will they think it's bullshit? Will they think we missed it?' But no! I'm actually friends with a few executives, who after every episode — I get several texts from them, literally, where they were just like, 'I can't believe you went there. How dare you? How dare you go there?'' 'I was on a call not too long ago with a friend of mine who works in casting, and it was right after the casting episode came out,' said Barinholtz, recalling the episode that depicted the constant, culturally sensitive landmines the show's film execs kept nearly stepping on while casting the Kool-Aid movie. 'She was like, 'I feel a little weird talking to you right now,' just because of that. It was too meta.' Barinholtz's beleaguered film executive Sal Saperstein has emerged as something of a cult hero following the uproarious Golden Globes episode in which he's repeatedly, unexpectedly thanked from the awards show stage as a running gag — something that's coming to life as Barinholtz is getting strangers offering shout-outs of 'Thank you, Sal Saperstein!' in his everyday life. Even Questlove quoted the line on social media, to the actor's disbelief. "If and when Adam Scott wins Best Actor for Severance, I hope he thanks Sal Saperstein," he said. "I'm trying to will that to happen, but it has definitely exploded a little bit. And whether it's Instagram commentators or people at a function I'm at, people want to come up and thank Sal Saperstein, and I'm here for it.' During the rollicking panel discussion — moderated by Gold Derby editor-in-chief Debra Birnbaum — Rogen, Goldberg, Barinholtz were joined by costars Catherine O'Hara, Chase Sui Wonders, Dewayne Perkins, and Keyla Monterroso Mejia. Goldberg revealed that the creators have actually received unsolicited 'studio notes' from seemingly helpful executives. Getty Images 'We got a note that the Matt character doesn't understand responsibility enough and tries to be liked too much,' said Goldberg. 'And we were like, 'Yeah — that's his character. That's the point of the show!'' He chalked up the blind spot in their thinking to over-identifying with Rogen's character, Matt Remick. 'I think these executives see themselves in him and think, 'I don't do that, so he can't do that!' ... They're trying to 'solve' the show.' 'Yeah, they're trying to fix it — to fix my guy,' laughed Rogen. 'The show's not funny anymore if you fix my guy.' ''He should be more likable,'' Rogen quoted the execs' criticism. 'So should you!' One executive who showed a sense of humor was Netflix co-CEO and Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos. He made a cameo in the Golden Globes episode and, when asked to react from his table as if he had just been thanked on stage, displayed just how well-practiced he is in real life. As for the confrontational scene in the men's room at the urinals, Rogen says the Hollywood titan was just as unfazed. 'He didn't blink at that — actually, he wanted it,' Rogen (maybe) quipped. Currently planning the second season of the show, Rogen and Goldberg told Gold Derby they're 'very much' looking to find ways to employ more distinctive cinematic techniques and technical toolkits, in the way the episode The Oner utilized the long, masterful one-shot takes made legendary in films like The Player and Goodfellas. 'There's all sorts of technical things we want to play with,' said Goldberg. 'We've also actually geared our thinking more towards real-time episodes,' Rogen added, 'because I think those are the ones that people seem to sort of engage with the most, and the more condensed timeline, the more people seem to enjoy it. That's something that we've also talked a lot about.' Apple TV+ But what matters most to the duo is that, underneath all the comedy and beyond all the weary and frustrating professional war stories, their unabashed love of the industry comes shining through. 'The show's written from our perspective, and that is how we approach every episode: as people who genuinely have faith overall that this industry is one that can provide great work and has people in it who are pursuing that,' said Rogen. 'We have amazing lives from this industry, and in general, we've gotten to do what we want. I look back to the things we've made and we're very proud of it. So we write from a place of appreciation and hope for the industry.' 'At times we've been beaten down by it and disappointed in it and aggravated by it, but at the end of the day, then we got to make a show about all that!' he added. 'So it's hard to be too down on it overall.' Goldberg hopes their enthusiasm is contagious. 'If I was in the audience at the end of the last episode,' he said, 'I would get up and chant 'Movies!'' Best of GoldDerby 'The Pitt' star Tracy Ifeachor thinks about Collins and Robby's backstory 'all the time': 'It just didn't work out because it's not the right time' How Eddie Redmayne crafted his 'deeply unflappable' assassin on 'The Day of the Jackal' TV composers roundtable: 'Adolescence,' 'Day of the Jackal,' 'Interview With the Vampire,' 'Your Friends and Neighbors' Click here to read the full article.
Forbes
04-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Simone Biles Talks Career, Netflix Docuseries And Her Advice For Girls
Simone Biles attends Netflix's "Simone Biles Rising" FYSEE event at Hollywood Athletic Club on June ... More 2, 2025 in Hollywood, California. She is indisputably the greatest Olympian of our generation - so much so, that Simone Biles' competitive sport of gymnastics has named several unprecedented skills after the trailblazer. Earning a total of seven Olympic gold medals, two silver and two bronze for Team USA, the journey for Biles, 28, has not come without its setbacks. Authentically highlighted in her Netflix docuseries Simone Biles Rising, she experienced early on during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games what is commonly known within the gymnastics community as the 'twisties' - a mental block that disconnects an athlete's physical movements from their mind. After Biles chose to no longer continue in the competition, with all eyes on her as the clear favorite around the world, she was soon faced with a plethora of both praise and criticism for her actions. In Simone Biles Rising, the decorated gymnast gets to tell her story in her own words, as she took the time to focus on her mental & physical health, set aside society pressures and better prepare herself to confidently return for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in an impressive comeback, achieving three gold medals and one silver. This past Monday, Biles was in Hollywood, California to promote her docuseries at the Netflix FYSEE event. Following her celebrated gymnastics career thus far and since her time making Simone Biles Rising, I wondered what she has learned more about herself throughout this storytelling process. Biles said, 'I think how to be patient and things take time. I think we kind of forget that growing up because whenever you're younger, time doesn't seem as long, or we don't really have a timestamp on time. And so, it's just things take time, things come-and-go and to just relish in those moments.' Simone Biles during the Artistic Gymnastics Women's Team Final during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games ... More at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre in Tokyo, Japan on July 27, 2021. Having competed in Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024, Biles actually does have a favorite Olympics. She said, 'I feel like they're all my favorites for different reasons, but I would definitely say my first one because that was the first time I ever went to the Olympics, and winning a team gold with my team - something I'll forever cherish.' Aly Raisman, Madison Kocian, Lauren Hernandez, Simone Biles and Gabby Douglas of Team USA pose for ... More photographs on the podium at the medal ceremony for the Artistic Gymnastics Women's Team at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Rio Olympic Arena on August 9, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. For those who watch the four episodes of Simone Biles Rising, what does she hope that people take away from her sharing her decision-making, her determination and getting to hear her truth? 'Well, that I'm normal - I just have a very unnatural gift that I do and I love to compete. I love to do gymnastics, but at the end of the day, it shows the core of who I am - what my value is for, what I stand for, as well as just doing a side of gymnastics.' Simone Biles celebrates after competing in the Artistic Gymnastics Women's All-Around Final at the ... More Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Bercy Arena on August 1, 2024 in Paris, France. When Simon Biles Rising director Katie Walsh was asked for her thoughts about Biles, not only as a superstar gymnast, but as a human and a business leader, she said, 'Simone is one of my favorite humans, to be quite honest. Part of the reason we wanted to do this film was to show Simone, the person. Everybody knows Simone Biles, the athlete, but not everyone knows Simone, the person. She said that to me early on in one of our meetings - 'I just sometimes want to be Simone.' That was the thesis statement for the film and trying to show her as a well-rounded, full human being with life outside of the gym, with doubts and with insecurities - just like all of us normal humans, even though she's a super-human. Her ability to be a leader, not just on the gymnastics floor, but as an advocate, as a businesswoman, is something that you see woven into the film and then throughout her life.' Simone Biles and Katie Walsh speak on-stage during Netflix's FYSEE "Simone Biles Rising" event at ... More the Hollywood Athletic Club on June 2, 2025 in Hollywood, California. As for the next generation of female gymnasts and young girls who have come to look up to Biles, I was curious what advice she might have for these individuals to block out 'the noise' that can come from those around them and to steer their own path. Simone Biles and gymnasts representing the Wendy Hillard Gymnastics Foundation attend Netflix's ... More FYSEE "Simone Biles Rising" event at the Hollywood Athletic Club on June 2, 2025 in Hollywood, California. Biles said, 'Always dream big, then dream bigger after that, because you never know where your journey will take you - and to just stay headstrong. That's the most important thing. Reach out, get help - it's the most courageous you'll ever be. I'm here supporting you.'
