--- title: Gabby Douglas Apologizes for Comments About Sexual Assault description: Gymnast Gabby Douglas has apologized for her response to her Olympic teammate Aly Raisman's Twitter post about sexual assault canonical: https://time.com/5030591/gabby-douglas-aly-raisman-simone-biles-sexual-assault/ author: Mahita Gajanan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-11-18T15:50:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T18:18:12.952Z article:section: Sports og:title: Gabby Douglas Apologizes for Comments About Sexual Assault og:description: Gabby Douglas apologized for comments toward teammate Aly Raisman og:url: https://time.com/5030591/gabby-douglas-aly-raisman-simone-biles-sexual-assault/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4760cd0506f24fe8/6988e66722fb85e64be23bf1/gabby-douglas-aly-raisman.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation's 28th Annual "A Time For Heroes" Family Festival - Arrivals og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Gabby Douglas Apologizes for Comments About Sexual Assault twitter:description: Gabby Douglas apologized for comments toward teammate Aly Raisman twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4760cd0506f24fe8/6988e66722fb85e64be23bf1/gabby-douglas-aly-raisman.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Gabby Douglas Apologizes for Saying Women Should Dress 'Modestly' in Response to Post About Sexual Assault by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Nov 18, 2017 3:50 PM CUT  Gabby Douglas attends The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation's 28th Annual 'A Time For Heroes' Family Festival at Smashbox Studios on October 29, 2017 in Culver City, California. Gabby Douglas attends The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation's 28th Annual 'A Time For Heroes' Family Festival at Smashbox Studios on October 29, 2017 in Culver City, California.Earl Gibson III—WireImage by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Nov 18, 2017 3:50 PM CUT Gymnast Gabby Douglas has apologized for saying women are responsible for dressing “modestly” in response to her [Olympic teammate Aly Raisman](http://time.com/5020885/aly-raisman-sexual-abuse-usa-gymnastics-doctor-larry-nassar/ "undefined")‘s social media post about sexual assault. Raisman on Friday wrote that men don’t have the right the “shame or not believe” women who come forward about sexual abuse just because they might have participated in a “sexy photoshoot” or wore a “sexy outfit” previously. “Women are allowed to feel sexy and comfortable in their own skin, in fact I encourage you all to wear what you feel good in,” Raisman wrote. “I will not put up with any woman or girl being shamed for wanting to wear a skirt, dress, etc. I do not tolerate it.” Following Raisman’s statement on victim shaming, Douglas weighed in with the opinion that “it is our responsibility as women to dress modestly and be classy.” “Dressing in a provocative/sexual way entices the wrong crowd,” she wrote in a since-deleted tweet, prompting immediate reaction and criticism. Teammate [Simone Biles](http://time.com/4878094/simone-biles-dentist-video/ "undefined") tweeted: “Shocks me that i’m seeing this but it doesn’t surprise me… honestly seeing this brings me to tears bc as your teammate I expected more from you & to support her.” > [](https://twitter.com/Simone%5FBiles/status/931655875227475968) After deleting her initial tweet, Douglas apologized, saying, “I didn’t correctly word my reply.” “I am deeply sorry for coming off like i don’t stand alongside my teammates,” Douglas [tweeted](https://twitter.com/gabrielledoug "undefined"). “Regardless of what you wear, abuse under any circumstance is never acceptable.” > [](https://twitter.com/gabrielledoug/status/931683416453496832) Raisman’s post comes after she became the latest in a string of high-profile gymnasts to [accuse former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar](http://time.com/5020885/aly-raisman-sexual-abuse-usa-gymnastics-doctor-larry-nassar/ "undefined") of sexual abuse. Nassar is currently awaiting sentencing in Michigan after pleading guilty to child pornography charges. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of sexually abusing his former patients and a family friend. A lawyer for Nassar told TIME earlier this month that a gag order in his pending case prevented him from commenting on Raisman’s allegations. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5030591/gabby-douglas-aly-raisman-simone-biles-sexual-assault/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5030591/gabby-douglas-aly-raisman-simone-biles-sexual-assault/"},"headline":"Gabby Douglas Apologizes for Saying Women Should Dress 'Modestly' in Response to Post About Sexual Assault","datePublished":"2017-11-18T15:50:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T18:18:12.952Z","description":"Raisman spoke out against victim shaming","url":"https://time.com/5030591/gabby-douglas-aly-raisman-simone-biles-sexual-assault/","keywords":["olympics","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4760cd0506f24fe8/6988e66722fb85e64be23bf1/gabby-douglas-aly-raisman.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4760cd0506f24fe8/6988e66722fb85e64be23bf1/gabby-douglas-aly-raisman.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation's 28th Annual \"A Time For Heroes\" Family Festival - Arrivals","caption":"Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation's 28th Annual \"A Time For Heroes\" Family Festival - Arrivals","creditText":"Earl Gibson III—WireImage","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/olympics/","name":"olympics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5030591/gabby-douglas-aly-raisman-simone-biles-sexual-assault/","name":"Gabby Douglas Apologizes for Saying Women Should Dress 'Modestly' in Response to Post About Sexual Assault"}}]}] ```