Simone Biles has had enough with the jokes suggesting her husband, the Chicago Bears defensive back Jonathan Owens, is a nobody compared to her.
She snapped in a fiery Instagram story Sunday night, writing over a pastel background that those continuing to slight Owens were being “disrespectful to my relationship and my husband.”
“Respectfully, fuck off,” she added.
It’s easy to see where Biles’ frustration comes from. Each of her posts featuring Owens, who she married last year, have been inundated with hateful comments that insinuate he isn’t famous or successful enough to be wedded to the world’s best gymnast, despite him now entering his sixth season in the NFL.
A new flood of hate arrived this weekend after the star gymnast posted a photo of her kissing Owens at her competition in Hartford, Connecticut, which she dominated. Among the top comments on that post, with over 2,000 likes, was, “I still don’t know his name lol.”
There were similar jokes cracked on X under clips that showed Owens proudly supporting his wife from the crowd. Biles, 27, said she’s going to start blocking rude accounts, but wanted to make clear that the insults directed at her husband are indeed hurtful.
Owens reshared Biles’ story to his own account, saying that strangers continuing to hate on him is “weirdo behavior.”
“If y’all gone support, support,” he said. “If not, respectfully keep scrolling. ‘Cause being fake mad about people y’all don’t know from a can of paint is weirdo behavior.”
The lovebirds have been together since 2020 after meeting on the dating app Raya. Owens told Texas Monthly in 2021 that he had no clue who Biles was at the time, largely because her iconic Olympic run in 2016 came while he was in the middle of an important training camp.
That comment, paired with a December podcast interview in which he joked that he was “the catch” of the relationship, appears to be the genesis of the jokes Owens continues to face.
Biles has defended her husband from the hate previously, most recently saying last month that her fans’ jokes hurt her feelings, but she has never spoken out with as much vigor as Sunday night.
