Gabby Douglas' Ex-Gym Denies Claim of Bullying, Racism: "We Are Good People"

[Claire2004]

Gabby Douglas' Ex-Gym Denies Claim of Bullying, Racism: "We Are Good People"

Gabby Douglas' Ex-Gym Denies Claim of Bullying, Racism: "We Are Good People"

Gabby Douglas told Oprah Winfrey that she had a different experience than her fellow gymnasts when she used to train in Virginia—and not in a good way.

But the head of her former gymnasium in Virginia Beach and the people she trained with maintain that they have no idea what Douglas is talking about.

"Gabby's remarks were hurtful and without merit," Excalibur Gymnastics CEO Gustavo Maure said in a statement to E! News in response to the 16-year-old's claim that she felt "bullied and isolated from the group," possibly because she Is black.

"We've had more African Americans in elite and on the national team than any other gym in the country (5, 2 of them in Olympic Trials or Olympic Team Camp)," Maure continued. "Her African American former teammates will answer this serious accusation. (1st statement untruth, she was not the only African American gymnast training in the gym) We are good people. We never were knowingly involved in any type of bullying or racist treatment, like she is accusing Excalibur."

Another athlete who trained at Excalibur for eight years (two of them alongside Douglas, she said) stated that Douglas' comments were "absolutely ridiculous."

Complete article at: Gabby Douglas Ex Gym Denies Claim Of Bullying Racism We Are Good People| E! Online

 

[Claire2004]

Has anyone here watched the Oprah interview? I wasn't able to watch so I don't know what was said exactly, so I was surprised when I read this article. I don't know if this will be a big issue or if the topic will die down.

 

[rainbow1]

I've watched a lot of them, but missed this one!

 

[allamericangirl8]

I saw it. I don't remember the talk of bullying (I wasn't paying much attention), but I remember she was talking about how she would clean off the balance beam after using it and someone would make a joke like, "Look at Gabby. She's our slave," and it would offend her deeply.

 

[Carrieflattsfan]

Of course they would deny it. Most kids don't come forward with accusations of bullying for fear of making it worse.

I watched the Oprah interview, and Gabby did say she was bullied by her teammates, and she felt like her coach isolated her.

She said her teammates made racial comments, and someone wrote "slave" on the beam; she also
said they said "why don't you make Gabby do it, she's our slave."

Sick.

 

[Claire2004]

Yahoo! has picked up the story:

Gym denies Gabrielle Douglas's racism claims - Yahoo! TV

 

[JB172]

IMO either party could be lying their asses off.

 

[pklongbeach]

Yikes, Gabby.
Here's the thing, you can come forward with accusations like this. And they may be entirely true. But the only person they effect is you yourself.
OF course they are going to deny it. OF course she is going to now have to defend herself.
Point is Gabby, you have, or had, many years of endorsements staring right at you that are now going to be questionable.
Coming forward about bullying, yes. But my advice would have been to wait until you have things written in ink that pertain to your future.
People just don't like stories like this from either side, and advertizers know this.
Lets hope this dies dwon quickly for her sake.
The more it blows up the less likely she gets many of those endorsements that were basically garunteed a month ago.
But at the end of the day, the truth is, "Girls can be very mean to eachother".
No one escapes human nature.

 

[pklongbeach]

And btw, that is regardless of skin color.
Kids will always find something to pick on.

 

[Carrie_Rocks_The_House]

Yeah true kids are really cruel when they pick on you.

 

[carebear4eva]

Yikes, Gabby.
Here's the thing, you can come forward with accusations like this. And they may be entirely true. But the only person they effect is you yourself.
OF course they are going to deny it. OF course she is going to now have to defend herself.
Point is Gabby, you have, or had, many years of endorsements staring right at you that are now going to be questionable.
Coming forward about bullying, yes. But my advice would have been to wait until you have things written in ink that pertain to your future.
People just don't like stories like this from either side, and advertizers know this.
Lets hope this dies dwon quickly for her sake.
The more it blows up the less likely she gets many of those endorsements that were basically garunteed a month ago.
But at the end of the day, the truth is, "Girls can be very mean to eachother".
No one escapes human nature.

So your advice is don't come out about the bullying you went through for fear of losing $$$$ from advertising?

Sorry, I don't really know the story here, but your post made very little sense to me.

 

[JB172]

So your advice is don't come out about the bullying you went through for fear of losing $$$$ from advertising?

Sorry, I don't really know the story here, but your post made very little sense to me.

It is a pretty big risk for her to come out and make claims that she can't prove as being true just because she said this went doesn't mean that it actually did, she could be telling the truth or she could be looking to cash in on being bullied by lying about this.

If I was head of a company and I was planning on using her in some role I would back off because I don't want to risk taking the chance of it coming out that nothing she said actually happend.

Sure some company will throw money at her but I wouldn't risk it when I can go find some other athlete who did well at the Olympics who doesn't have any issues hanging over their heads.

 

[jaylee50]

Each side's perception of the incident/s is real to them. It is a shame that Gabby's statements are getting so much attention. She's young and inexperienced about the potential ramifications of her comments. Gabby seems to be a hard worker and I truly wish her continued success.

 

[dbarberis]

I think this was pulled out of her by Oprah for ratings. It is weird that her or her Mother did not have any complaints about this gym before the Oprah show. If she felt this way her Mother should have brought up 2 years ago. The people complaining her hair at the Olympics were black women who thought she should have done something else. I don't know exactly what they thought she could do, but her was just every other gymnast out there

 

[pklongbeach]

So your advice is don't come out about the bullying you went through for fear of losing $$$$ from advertising?

Sorry, I don't really know the story here, but your post made very little sense to me.

I didn't actually give advice.
I said that if this story blows up it will diminish her offerings by sponsers.
I don't mean to suggest a moral option.
One person might say, keep quiet about such things until you have secured some sponserships (if that is what your objective is. And for a teenage gymnast, sponorship is extremely important to having a financially stable career).
Someone else might say, "To thine own self be true". IF you were bullied you should talk about it, maybe as a means of helping people (though I don't see how).
But the bottom line is, this kind of story is unsavory to advertizers and if you want to endorse running shoes or protien bars, you should probably keep your image as clean as possible, at least for a while.
It just depends on what you want.
I, personally, would go for the endorsements and maybe find a way to have antibulling be a part of my contibution to society.
I am just suggesting that this won't help her do that.
Maybe I'm wrong. (but I doubt it).