Fox News Flash top entertainment headlines for July 30
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Michael Che completely wiped his Instagram account after being blasted for targeting Simone Biles.
On Thursday, the "Saturday Night Live" comedian made a series of since-deleted stories about the American gymnastics superstar, who withdrew from the all-around finals at the Tokyo Olympics to focus on her mental well-being.
On Wednesday, USA Gymnastics said in a statement that the 24-year-old is opting to not compete. The decision came a day after Biles removed herself from the team final following one rotation because she felt she wasn’t mentally ready.
Che took to the social media app where he wrote, "Man, I wanna make fun of Simone Biles," as quoted by Newsweek.
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"I got like 3 mins of Simone Biles jokes in my head," the 38-year-old continued. "Im going to the cellar tonight to say them into a microphone. As the dorky kids say I’m choosing violence."
US comedian Michael Che has come under fire for jokes he made on social media about gymnast champ Simone Biles. (Photo by ALEX EDELMAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Che immediately received a number of responses, which he reposted on Instagram Stories. According to the outlet, one of those responses included a joke about Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics doctor convicted of sexually abusing hundreds of girls and women.
Biles previously came forward as one of the hundreds of young women abused by Nassar, 57, under the guise of medical treatment.
According to the outlet, Che rated the joke a 9/10, before rating a racist joke about Biles as 8/10. Screenshots of those Instagram Stories were shared on BallerAlert’s Twitter account.
Afterward, Che posted an Instagram story claiming his account had been hacked.
"Maaannnn, I got hacked today," he wrote. "Cant believe they got me. Yall kno I only do jokes about whites and cops. s’all good now, I changed my password and everything."
The comic then referenced rapper DaBaby, who recently came under fire for making homophobic comments.
Michael Che has wiped his Instagram account after claiming he was hacked. ( Photo by: Will Heath/NBC)
"Yall hear about dababy tho..?" he wrote. "that’s crazy.. iight. See yall at church. Imma get there early."
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A rep for Che didn’t immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment. The star’s Instagram account is now empty. He is currently being blasted on social media for his remarks.
"I didn’t know #michaelche was trash but now I know," one tweeted.
"Let’s say Michael Che did get hacked," chimed another. "For like 5 seconds, let’s believe that Do you know how f----g offensive your regular jokes have to be for people to believe everything the hacker said genuinely came from you?
"Boy, bye!" added another.
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Simone Biles previously came forward as one of the hundreds of young women abused by Larry Nassar under the guise of medical treatment. (Scott Olson/Getty Images; Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)
"Is #MichaelChe really saying he was hacked?? #Lies," one user tweeted. "He’s a piece of s—t. I never thought he was funny, but I didn’t think he would go this low just for laughs. The Simone jokes are tasteless and disgusting. Black women are tired of the trashing from OUR OWN MEN. @nbcsnl Fire him."
Biles previously shared that her well-being came first.
"I have to do what’s right for me and focus on my mental health, and not jeopardize my health and well-being," a tearful Biles said after the Americans won the silver medal in the team competition.
Biles said she recognized she was not in the right headspace hours before the competition began.
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"It was like fighting all those demons," she said.
The International Olympic Committee, aware of the struggles young athletes face, increased its mental health resources ahead of the Tokyo Games. Psychologists and psychiatrists are onsite in the Olympic village and established a "Mentally Fit Helpline" as a confidential health support service available before, during and for three months after the Games.
Simone Biles said she is choosing to focus on her mental health. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
The 24-hour hotline is a free service that offers in more than 70 languages clinical support, structured short-term counseling, practical support and, if needed, guidance to the appropriate IOC reporting mechanisms in the case of harassment and/or abuse.
The IOC-developed Athlete365 website surveyed more than 4,000 athletes in early 2020, and the results led the IOC to shift its tone from sports performance and results to mental health and uplifting the athlete’s voices.
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Content was created for various social media platforms to feature current Olympians championing mental health causes. And the Olympic State of Mind series on Olympics.com shares compilations of mental health stories and podcasts.
Thriveworks, a counseling, psychology, and psychiatry service with more than 300 locations, found that one in three elite athletes suffer from anxiety and depression. In an analysis of more than 18,000 data points from print, online, broadcast and social media sources covering track and field, swimming, tennis, gymnastics and soccer, 69% of negative mentions were about female athletes compared to 31% about male athletes.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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