Gabby Douglas reveals that she, too, was abused by Olympic team doctor
UPDATE: Nov. 22, 2017, 11:40 a.m. EST Updated to include news of Nassar pleading guilty to seven counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct.
Olympic gold-medalist Gabby Douglas is joining more than 100 women — including Olympic gymnasts Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney — who've accused former USA Gymnastics team physician Larry Nassar of sexual abuse.
The 21-year-old gymnast shared a lengthy Instagram post with fans on Tuesday, opening up about her past experiences with the physician and apologizing again for recent controversial comments she made about sexual assault and women's responsibility to dress appropriately.
“I know that no matter what you wear, it NEVER gives anyone the right to harass or abuse you," Douglas wrote, apologizing again to her former teammates and fans. "It would be like saying that because of the leotards we wore, it was our fault we were abused by Larry Nassar."
The gymnast went on to explain why she's remained silent about Nassar for so long, offering her teammates support for speaking out.
“I didn’t publicly share my experiences as well as many other things because for years we were conditioned to stay silent and honestly some things were extremely painful," she continued. "I wholeheartedly support my teammates for coming forward with what happened to them."
In a statement to The New York Times, Douglas’s publicist, Jeff Raymond, said "Gabby is confirming that she too was a victim of Larry Nassar" through the Instagram post.
After Olympic gymnast Simone Biles saw Douglas's controversial response to Aly Raisman's call to stop victim shaming, she tweeted, "honestly seeing this brings me to tears bc as your teammate I expected more from you & to support her."
Douglas initially responded with an apology, saying she didn't correctly word what she was trying to say and used the hashag "Me Too," which actress Alyssa Milano promoted to encourage women to share their stories of sexual harassment and assault.
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Nassar, who's currently in jail, appeared in court on Wednesday, where CNN reports he apologized for sexually abusing young girls and pleaded guilty seven counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct.
The sexual abuse sentencing will be in January, but Nassar also awaits a separate sentencing for pleading guilty to child pornography charges in July. That hearing is scheduled for next Monday.
Nicole is a Senior Editor at Mashable. She primarily covers entertainment and digital culture trends, and in her free time she can be found watching TV, sending voice notes, or going viral on Twitter for admiring knitwear. You can follow her on Twitter @nicolemichele5.
