Simone Biles is standing by her husband after facing backlash for his recent comments about not knowing who she was before they started dating and referring to himself as the “catch” in the relationship.
Jonathan Owens, who plays for the Green Bay Packers, is “unbothered” by the criticism he's faced in recent days after a December 19 interview went viral. Sitting down with The Pivot podcast, Biles and Owens spoke about their relationship and its beginnings. Podcast host Channing Crowder asked Owens, “How in the hell did you pull Simone Biles?” To which the NFL player responded, “It’s really how she pulled me.”
The pair, who got married in April 2023, said they originally met on a dating app. Owens said at the time he “didn’t know who she was” because he didn't “pay attention” to gymnastics — despite Biles being the most decorated gymnast in history and widely considered one of the most successful athletes of all time with nine Olympic medals and the most Gymnastics World Championship medals in history.
“I didn’t know who she was at the time,” Owens said. “But the first thing that I saw was that she just had a bunch of [Instagram] followers, so in my mind, I’m like, ‘Ok she got to be good.’”
Both hosts of the show looked at Owens skeptically when he said he didn't know who she was, and the NFL player responded, “I promise you.” The host then sarcastically asked, “So you was really the catch?” Owens responded, “I always say the man the catch.”
The interview sparked backlash online, with many people pointing out that “Simone Biles husband” was trending on X (formerly, Twitter), instead of his actual name. Some users were even referring to him as “Mr. Biles.” Owens's comments also inspired a TikTok trend with women asking their husbands if they know who Simone Biles is and then asking if they know who her husband is. The general outcome was that most men knew who Biles was and had no idea what her husband's name was.
After saying he didn't watch gymnastics, some internet sleuths dug up old tweets Owens made during the 2012 London Olympics when he seemed to be live-tweeting the gymnastics portion of the games. Biles rose to fame the following year and became an international icon after competing in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
After the endless comments, Biles and Owens have since responded to the criticism on social media. Without addressing the interview directly, Biles posted “are y'all done yet?” Owens posted photos from the pair's wedding with the caption, “Unbothered 😂❤️ Just know we locked in over here.” Biles commented, “for life” under the photos.
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Biles also shared a photo with Owens from their wedding, simply with the caption, “mood.” The couple said they first started dating during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Since getting together, Biles has gushed about Owens in the past, calling him “so supportive.”
