Jonathan Owens has addressed the major backlash he was hit with after making a throwaway comment that didn’t quite stick the landing.
The NFL star, 28, found himself in hot water in December 2023 after referring to himself as “the catch” in his marriage with seven-time Olympic champion Simone Biles.
“I always say that the men are the catch,” he said at the time, prompting major backlash for seemingly implying that he was a bigger catch than Biles, 27, who was present during the interview.
Despite being slammed for his remark online, the athlete claims that the negative attention didn’t faze him.
“I have all my social media notifications off, so I didn’t even know for a while,” Owens told Us Weekly.
“I was actually with my mom and Simone whenever it came out, so, all the comments and everything, I just let them read it. I try to stay off of it, and obviously if you feel like stuff is kind of getting out of hand, that’s when you reach in and say something”
The Green Bay Packers player, who tied the knot with Biles in April last year, said there’s no point in trying to silence critics.
“I don’t mean to cuss, but like, damned if you do, damned if you don’t,” he told the outlet. “If you say something, they’re going to say something; if you don’t say something, they’re going to say something.”
“So, just live your life. People are going to talk about you anyway, so you might as well do it the way you want to,” he added.
In addition to the controversial comment, Owens also caused a stir by claiming he didn’t know who Biles — one of the most decorated gymnasts of all time — was before they started dating.
Last week, Biles admitted that while she initially found the situation funny, it eventually started to take a toll on her mental health.
“I thought everything was OK, and then I go on Twitter and everybody’s like, ‘Divorce this man. He’s mean!’” Biles said on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast.
“I’m like, ‘He’s the sweetest. He praises the ground that I walk on.’ Truly, I’ve never met a man like him … he truly goes out of his way to do anything for me.”
Biles also showed support for her hubby, adding that he “never said [she] wasn’t a catch.”
“He said he was a catch,” she explained. “Because he is! I’ve never met a man like him.”
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