Gabby Douglas Issues Another Apology After Her Victim Blaming Tweets Went Viral

Gabby Douglas has taken to Instagram for another apology and statement following her response to Aly Raisman‘s stance on victim shaming over the past weekend.

The gymnast writes, “First, i want to reiterate my apology for responding the way that I did to a comment that one of my teammates posted. I know some of you may take what I am about to say as insincere, but I still wanted to provide context.”

“The day before I commented, I was at an event where hundreds of children and young adults came to spend an evening with me. It’s very humbling when many people look up to you as an example. I take my job as a role model very seriously and I always want to do my best to represent all the best qualities that a role model should embody. I admit there are times that I fall short.”

“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. It would be like saying that because of the leotards we wore, it was our fault that we were abused by Larry Nassar. I didn’t publicly share my experiences as well as many other things because for years were were conditioned to stay silent and honestly some thing were extremely painful. I wholeheartedly support my teammates for coming forward with what happened to them.”

Gabby goes on to state that she does not advocate victim shaming in any way and feels responsible for her actions.

Read her entire statement below: