--- title: Gymnast Rachael Denhollander Talks Larry Nassar Testimony description: Gymnast Rachael Denhollander, whose testimony at the Larry Nassar trial went viral, opens up about it at the Time 100 gala. canonical: https://time.com/5254262/rachael-denhollander-gymnast-testimony-larry-nassar-time-100-2018/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-04-25T17:03:11.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:47:18.124Z og:title: Gymnast Rachael Denhollander Talks Larry Nassar Testimony og:description: Rachael Denhollander shares her story og:url: https://time.com/5254262/rachael-denhollander-gymnast-testimony-larry-nassar-time-100-2018/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf511586271a048a7/69892ea3fb4eac4daf896704/rachael-denhollander-larry-nassar-time-100.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: US-MEDIA-TIME-!00-GALA og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Gymnast Rachael Denhollander Talks Larry Nassar Testimony twitter:description: Rachael Denhollander shares her story twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf511586271a048a7/69892ea3fb4eac4daf896704/rachael-denhollander-larry-nassar-time-100.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Gymnast Whose Larry Nassar Testimony Went Viral: 'It's Just the Tip of the Iceberg' > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ## Video: 'It Demands Justice.' First Woman to Accuse Larry Nassar Delivers Emotional Statement [Watch (HLS stream): 'It Demands Justice.' First Woman to Accuse Larry Nassar Delivers Emotional Statement](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/MmIHZxGy.m3u8) (3:28)  _Published 2018-01-25. Rachael Denhollander, the first woman to go on the record accusing Dr. Larry Nassar of sexual misconduct, closed out an exhaustive, week-long trial against the former USA Gymnastics physician._ by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/) and [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) Apr 25, 2018 5:03 PM UTC  Rachael Denhollander and Aly Raisman attend the TIME 100 Gala celebrating its annual list of the 100 Most Influential People In The World at Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center on April 24, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP) (Photo credit should read ANGELA WEISS/AFP/Getty Images) Rachael Denhollander and Aly Raisman attend the TIME 100 Gala celebrating its annual list of the 100 Most Influential People In The World at Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center on April 24, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP) (Photo credit should read ANGELA WEISS/AFP/Getty Images) ANGELA WEISS—AFP/Getty Images by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/) and [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) Apr 25, 2018 5:03 PM UTC When [_TIME_ 100 honoree Rachael Denhollander](http://time.com/collection/most-influential-people-2018/5217581/rachael-denhollander/) came forward as the first woman to [publicly accuse Larry Nassar of sexual abuse,](http://time.com/5116872/judge-larry-nassar-sentencing/) she enabled more than 150 other women, most of them former gymnasts, to share their stories as well. Denhollander was a 15-year-old gymnast when she began seeing Nassar for physical therapy sessions; during Larry Nassar’s sentencing hearing for criminal sexual conduct, she was the last of his victims to testify. The 33-year-old lawyer’s powerful words immediately went viral. Perhaps most haunting were the questions that Denhollander leveled at the court: “How much is a little girl worth? How much is a young woman worth?” At the [_TIME_ 100 gala](http://time.com/5248950/time-100-gala-best-moments/) on Tuesday, Denhollander discussed the change that she hopes will come from the #MeToo movement. “I think the response is symbolic of a culture that is hopefully shifting,” she said. “Survivors are being heard. At the same time I think it’s just the tip of the iceberg.” Denhollander also wonders what the #MeToo movement will look like in the future. “I’m still waiting to see \[how people react\] when it’s going to cost you something. When it’s your own community. Right now we are seeing support for people speaking outside their community.” ## Transcript Larry is a hardened and determined sexual predator, I know this first hand. His ability to gain my trust and the trust of my parents, his grooming and carefully calculated brazen sexual assault was the result or deliberate, premeditated, intentional, and methodological patterns of abuse Patterns that were rehearsed long before I walked through Larry's exam room door, and which continue to be perpetrated, I believe, on a daily basis for 16 more years until I filed a police report. And while Larry is unlikely to live past his federal sentence, he is not the only predator out there, and this sentence will send a message about how seriously abuse will be taken. So I ask, how much is a little girl worth? How much priority should be placed on communicated that the fullest weight of the law will be used to protect another innocent child from the soul shattering devastation that sexual assault brings. Larry meticulously groomed me for the purpose of exploiting me for his sexual game. He penetrated me, he groped me, he fondled me, and then he whispered questions about how it felt. He engaged in degrading and humiliating sex acts without my consent or permission. And Larry enjoyed it. Larry sought out and took pleasure In little girls and women being sexually injured and violated. MSU, we have been telling our stories for more than 18 months. And you have yet to answer a single question I have asked. Every time I repeat these facts about the number of women who reported to employees at MSU and were silenced you respond the exact same way. You issued a press statement saying there was no cover up because no one who heard the reports of assault believed that Larry was committing abuse. You play word games, saying you didn't know because no one believed. I know that. And the reason everyone who heard about Larry's abuse did not believe it is because they did. Not listen. They did not listen in 1997, or 1998, or 1999 or 2000, or 2004, or 2014. No one knew, according to your definition of know, because no one handled the reports of abuse properly. Victims were silenced, intimidated, repeatedly told that it was medical treatment and even forced to go back for continued sexual assault. I was subjected to lies and attacks on my character, including very publicly by Attorney Shannon Smith when I testified under oath. I was being attacked for wanting fame and attention. For making up a story to try to get money. And Your Honor, since these attacks were made on my character, very publicly on public record, I would like to take an opportunity briefly now to correct them. You may preceed. Thank you. Out of the two women in question that day, Miss Smith and I, Who were attempting to communicate their either questions or answers. I would like to note that only one of us was taking pictures of the courtroom on her cellphone. Only one of us posed for the press and said, quote, I feel like I should say cheese. And out of the two of us Only one of us was making money off her court appearance that day. I don't feel the need to say anything else. I think I've communicated [ INAUDIBLE ]. 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