Simone Biles addresses ‘the mental toll' caused by backlash towards husband Jonathan Owens

Simone Biles is making it clear that she won't stand for her fans criticizing her husband, NFL star Jonathan Owens.

In the second part of the Netflix docuseries "Simone Biles Rising" which premiered Oct. 25, the world famous gymnast addressed the backlash Owens faced after he implied he was "the catch" in the couple's relationship during an interview on "The Pivot" podcast in December 2023.

Owens, a Chicago Bears safety, also caught heat for saying during the interview that he had never heard of Biles, who is the most decorated gymnast in history, when the two first matched on the dating app Raya in 2020.

In episode three of the Netflix docuseries, Biles defended her husband, saying his comments were “taken out of context." She recalled how her fans, who had instantly become "Jonathan's biggest haters," lashed out at him, with many now calling him "Mr. Biles," on social media.

“Who’s going to go to somebody’s (social media) profile and say who you can and can’t love? That’s just ridiculous,” Biles said.

“They equate our love to the amount of trophies and medals and accolades that I have, and that’s not how you measure love," she continued. "That’s doesn’t equate to how much my husband loves me or likes me."

Owens also opened up during the episode about the pain the backlash caused him.

“Just like you wouldn’t want someone bad-talking your relationship behind your back, it’s just, like, disrespectful. Like you wouldn’t do it to anyone else," said the athlete.

"We’re all human at the end of the day, regardless of what your job is," he added.

Fans on social media have a "false sense of reality," said Biles. They believe they "really know" the famous people they follow, which makes them feel comfortable enough to comment on their personal lives.

"Most of the time they don’t understand the mental toll that it takes, especially going into an Olympic year," said Biles.

“I know we signed up to be judged in the gym but when you guys are going to talk about him or my family, yeah I’m gonna come at you guys,” she added.

When the backlash over Owens’s comments during “The Pivot” interview began, Owens initially responded by posting photos from the couple’s wedding day on Instagram. “Unbothered. Just know we locked in over here,” he captioned them, adding laughing, heart and fingers-crossed emoji.

Biles used the same fingers-crossed emoji in a comment on Owens’ post. “For life,” she wrote.

Biles also seemingly responded to the early criticism of Owens when she tweeted, “are y’all done yet?” next to an image of a kid looking confused on X.

But months later, Biles revealed how much the backlash hurt her when she spoke more seriously about it during an April 2024 episode of Alex Cooper’s “Call Her Daddy” podcast.

Biles recalled being in the room during Owens on "The Pivot" and "feeling great" about his remarks. “I was like, ‘My man just killed that,’” she said.

But she soon learned that swaths of her fans felt differently about what he'd said

"I go on Twitter, and everybody’s like, divorce this man, he’s mean. I’m like, he’s the sweetest. He praises the ground that I walk on. Truly, I’ve never met a man like him,” she recalled.

Biles also said at the time that Owens' remarks about being the "catch" in the marriage were misinterpreted.

“He never said I wasn’t a catch. He said he was a catch because he is,” she explained. “I’ve never met a man like him. A lot of people that meet him are like, ‘Oh my gosh, I want a man like that.’”

Biles wondered if perhaps her fans were simply upset that she wasn't featured alongside Owens during the interview, but she rejected that idea.

“He has to have his moments too and I let him have it,” she said.

Though the couple was able to laugh it off at first, the backlash against her husband eventually made Biles cry, she said.

“One night, I broke down and I’m like, why are you guys talking about my husband like this?” she said. “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.”

This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:

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