Stephen A. Smith weighed in Monday on the fiery exchange between Simone Biles and Riley Gaines over transgender athletes in women’s sports. While Smith agreed with Gaines’ broader message, he said she crossed the line by invoking disgraced doctor Larry Nassar.
The drama began when Biles lashed out at Gaines on June 6. She called the OutKick host “truly sick,” told her to “bully someone your own size,” and claimed Gaines should be “uplifting the trans community.” Biles ended the post with a jab that the only equal-sized opponent would “ironically be a male.”
Biles was responding to Gaines’ criticism of a Minnesota high school softball team that won a state title with a biological male as its star pitcher. Gaines argued the situation was unfair and highlighted growing concerns over transgender participation in female athletics.
Smith discussed the feud during Monday’s Stephen A. Smith Show, expressing initial agreement with Gaines. But he strongly objected when she brought up Nassar, the convicted sex offender who abused dozens of gymnasts—including Biles herself. “Respectfully, Gaines, I was with you until that last quote. Respectfully, that's going a bit too far,” Smith said. “Talking about transgender women in sports is one issue, using a guy like Larry Nassar… To go that low, Gaines, you lost all credibility.”
Smith didn’t mention a follow-up post from Gaines in which she clarified her position and said Nassar deserves to “spend the rest of his miserable life in prison.” That detail was left out of his commentary.
Despite that, Smith stood by Gaines’ core argument about fairness in women’s sports. “The points that you made to Simone Biles outside of the Larry Nassar comment, that should give us all cause to pause,” he said. “The reality is that it is a disservice to women in a lot of people's eyes that men transitioning to women get to compete in women's sports.”
He acknowledged the sensitivity of the issue but said it deserves an honest discussion. “Whether it's right for me or somebody else to say is a different argument,” Smith added. “In the age we're living in, with Title IX in existence… to then piggyback off of that years later by allowing transgender athletes to transition from male to female to compete against women doesn't appear to be fair.”
Gaines is now scheduled to appear on an upcoming episode of The Stephen A. Smith Show. The segment is expected to go deeper into her views, Biles’ response, and the wider national debate over transgender athletes in women’s sports.