USA Gymnastics Interim CEO Mary Bono Resigns After Nike Controversy
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She criticized Nike in a since-deleted tweet.
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USA Gymnastics interim CEO Mary Bono, who sparked controversy with a since-deleted tweet criticizing Nike, stepped down Tuesday. “My withdrawal comes in the wake of personal attacks that, left undefended, would have made my leading USAG a liability for the organization,” she said in a statement. In September, Bono targeted Nike in a tweet after the company unveiled an ad campaign featuring ex-NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Her post included a photo of someone blacking out the Nike logo on a pair of sneakers. “With respect to Mr. Kaepernick, he nationally exercised his first amendment right to kneel. I exercised mine: to mark over on my own golf shoes, the logo of the company sponsoring him for ‘believing in something even if it means sacrificing everything’—while at a tournament for families who have lost a member of the armed services… who literally sacrificed everything,” Bono wrote in the statement. “That one tweet has now been made a litmus test of my reputation over almost two decades of public service.” Olympic medalist Simone Biles spoke out about Bono’s tweet earlier this month, calling for a “smarter USA gymnastics president.”
Mary Bono is OUT as @USAGym interim president and CEO. In exit stmt, she defends her tweet marking out @Nike logo on her sneakers: “With respect to Mr. Kaepernick, he nationally exercised his first amendment right to kneel. I exercised mine” pic.twitter.com/qS0uaGdXyl
