"Imagine a grown man doing this to an underage girl" - Riley Gaines weighs in on inappropriate behavior faced by Justin Bieber in Hollywood

By Animesh Pandey

Modified Sep 24, 2024 04:06 GMT

Riley Gaines has come out in support of Justin Bieber. The NCAA swimmer-turned-activist has criticized Hollywood for being silent over the singer's harassment over several years.

A couple of months ago, some videos of Bieber being openly harassed by Hollywood celebrities went viral on social media. In one of the videos, popular singer Katy Perry was seen touching him in inappropriate places. Gaines shared one such video on her X account and wrote:

"Imagine a grown man doing this to an underage girl????It'd rightfully be deemed sexual harassment and everyone would know them as a creep. Hollywood has gone unchecked far too long."

Riley Gaines has been unequivocal in her stand on the gender policy. In a recent interview with Fox News, she criticized the decision of a Californian judge to ban a school district from notifying their parents about their children changing their gender pronouns. Gaines minced no words as she said:

"They don't believe that these are your kids. They believe that these are the government's kids."

The former NCAA swimmer first came into the limelight for her battle against Lia Thomas, a transgender swimmer who was allowed to participate in the NCAA swimming championships held in 2022.

Gaines had demanded a ban over the participation of transgender athletes in women's sports when Thomas was prioritized over her for the fifth-place trophy. Since then, Riley Gaines has embarked on a persistent campaign to keep transgender athletes out of women's sports.

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Riley Gaines on Hollywood's selective outrage

Riley Gaines testifying during a hearing [Image for Representational Purposes] [Image Source: Getty]

Interestingly, this isn't the first time Riley Gaines has called out Hollywood for their selective outrage. Although she didn't say it directly, her supporters had called out the female activists from Hollywood for staying silent over the assault on the former swimmer by transgender activists in early 2023.

Gaines was also part of a satire titled 'Lady Ballers'. The movie streamed on the streaming Daily Wire + in late 2023. The plot was around a high school coach, who decides to admit transgenders into women's sports. Gaines made a cameo appearance alongside Ted Cruz and Jordan Peterson, who have been equally unequivocal in the participation of transgender athletes in women's sports.

When asked how did she agree to be a part of this movie, Riley Gaines replied on her podcast Gaines with Girls:

"I'll be honest I was hesitant to join on it first when they initially reached out and asked me if I wanted to do this because of course it's an issue I take pretty seriously. So I was kind of nervous to poke fun at it and be light-hearted but I will tell you after watching it that's exactly what we needed to do."

Gaines also explained why this subject needed to be presented with a touch of humor, adding:

"We needed to kind of be able to mock what is already a mockery."

Riley Gaines has been campaigning for a ban on the participation of transgenders in women's sports. She even sued the NCAA alongside 15 other athletes for letting transgender females participate in women's sports.

Gaines had achieved partial success in 2022, when World Aquatics [formerly FINA], the governing body for international swimming events, voted unanimously to keep out transgender athletes from women's sports, meaning swimmers like Lia Thomas won't be able to participate in either the Paris Olympics or any other elite event. Thomas appealed against the decision, but eventually lost in June 2024.