Gabby Douglas Has One Question For The Hair Critics: “Are You Kidding Me?”

August 6th, 2012 - By Brande Victorian

Source: espn.go.com

I was hoping no one would even bother asking 16-year-old Olympian Gabby Douglas about the ridiculous criticism of her hair last week but her response to the drama is even better than her ignoring it at all.

The Associated Press caught up with the history-making gymnast—and new Kellog’s spokesperson—to see how she felt about all the negativity, and her words prove she’s as levelheaded off the balance beam as she is when performing.

“I don’t know where this is coming from. What’s wrong with my hair? she said. “I’m like, `I just made history and people are focused on my hair?’ It can be bald or short, it doesn’t matter about (my) hair.”

Oh, and one more thing:

“Nothing is going to change,” she added. “I’m going to wear my hair like this during beam and bar finals. You might as well just stop talking about it.”

#POW

Being the gracious representative of American athleticism that she is, Gabby also added this:

“I don’t think people should be worried about that. We’re all champions and we’re all winners. I just say that it’s kind of, a stupid and crazy thought to think about my hair.”

It’s amazing she understands that at 16, yet the tweeters older than her who sparked the drama have no clue. Surprisingly, AP didn’t ask Gabby about the other controversy that’s been surrounding her coverage in the media as of late, the ”Animal Practice” ad that ran after her performance Thursday night. Though the ad for NBC’s new comedy was already previously scheduled to run late Thursday night following the women’s gold medal competition regardless of who won, a lot of people took issue with a monkey being shown as an Olympian on the rings given the historical reference of African Americans as monkeys. NBC issued an apology for any perceived slight, saying:

“Gabby Douglas’ gold medal performance last night was a historic and inspiring achievement. The spot promoting ‘Animal Practice,’ which has run three times previously, is one in a series with an Olympic theme, which have been scheduled for maximum exposure. Certainly no offense was intended.”

Unfortunately the same can’t be said for those taking jabs at Gabby’s hair, but hopefully she’s shut them up for good. What do you think about her response?

Brande Victorian is the news and operations editor for madamenoire.com. Follow her on twitter @Be_Vic.

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  • Kenedy

    If it lwasn’t for the media….i wouldn’t even know that these tweets existed..so yes, the media does magnify things, that otherwise wouldn’t be an issue….is what im saying

  • Soulsis

    Spoken like a true hater. You are taking a few liberties with your statement. We number in the 38 million so please do not speak on behalf of all of us.

  • Mystique

    Don’t worry about all the haters out there Gabby. It’s not the texture of your hair, they are just envious of your accomplishments and your strong belief in God. Enjoy your gold.

  • Soulsis

    99.9 % of us were rooting for her, but the .1% got the press because no one is interested in us unless we are divided.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=536872959 Aaron T. Starks

    Emotional Immaturity is THE #1 problem in our community. Pretty much every other problem stems from adult black folks with the emotional immaturity of a 10th grader left behind twice. And it’s even worse when I see our women knee deep in this type of idiocy.

    I applaud Gabby for pretty much seeing it and at 16! How does that make silly “women” feel when a 16 year old shows more grace and maturity than they do?

    • everythingL

      Yes, people on twitter are emotionally insecure. The rest of the community were applauding Gabby. I mean, look around you. How many black women are actually attacking Gabby? I wouldn’t know there were any if people didn’t keep saying there were.

  • Shawn

    We are not our hair.. People need to get over themselves. Gabby was not in a beauty contest she was doing her thang on the floor etc..

  • Ms_Mara

    Gosh, I love that girl even more now! Such a class act!

  • get real

    Black women you guys are pitiful. Insulting this girl hair. Smh. You fat self haing witches need to stop. Get that funky glued in, sowed in weave out of your head, join a gym and lose some weight. Always worried about some damn hair.

  • Candacey Doris

    Why are people worried about such superficial stuff? I’m only interested in how they’re doing as people and as athletes. If you aren’t watching to support our team, sit down and shut up!

  • mollyteena

    Whats the matter with her hair? I find no fault in it at all!

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  • annie. b

    AS FOR THE PERSON THAT MADE THAT DUM STATEMENT ABOUT GABBY’S HAIR GET A LIFE. AND STOP BEING SOO MISERABLE.

  • BBE

    For the last time there’s nothing wrong with Gabby’s hair. There is something wrong with people who watched her perform and all they could think of was to critique her hair. She gave a very good answer. Now as Nisa says, can we please end this? smh

  • Hello_Kitty81

    She’s an intelligent, talented, beautiful young lady, she shouldn’t let her hair haters get to her. I don’t see nothing wrong with her hair at all. It’s just superficial dummies on Twitter who ain’t got nothing going on in their lives so they find something on someone to nitpick about.

  • Kaay

    Ya know, the more I think about it this Gabby situation reeks hate, not just from the usual suspects (ignorant, hopeless people), but an even larger entity. Every athlete in the Olympics has a hater or two somewhere. I’ve seen negative notes in the comments section on just about every athlete reported on online. Why hasn’t the press taken time to ask other athletes about the nonsense being said about them in social media? I’m starting believe “black people hating on each other” is the main issue here. We should be condemning the media for using the blogs, fb and twitter as a cover to SHAAAAAADE the heck out of this little black girl! There is no good reason for the press to ignore the millions that are wishing this girl well to highlight the handful of ignorant anonymous people online. Shade for days! The press has sold their souls for ratings.

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