Simone Biles Draws the Line, Urges Fans to Love Her From Afar

Simone Biles just drew a clean line between excited support and doing too much. She is in Madrid for the 2026 Laureus World Sports Awards, and after some fans camped outside her hotel, she hopped on Instagram to ask everyone to dial it back.

What she told fans

On Sunday, April 19, Biles thanked people for the love, then asked them not to wait around her hotel all day. She made it clear she is happy to say hi and snap photos when you catch her out and about — just please, not at the hotel.

"It really makes me anxious when you stand outside of the hotel all day... Can we please love from afar and respect privacy."

Why this matters for Biles specifically

Biles has never been shy about setting boundaries. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, she pulled out of competition to protect her mental health and later explained that putting your well-being first is not weakness — sometimes you sit out even the biggest stage because that is the strongest move. Her stance resonated well beyond gymnastics: at the 2025 U.S. Open, Coco Gauff said Biles' story helped her find some calm amid the pressure and called her an inspiration.

The broader pattern: fandom vs. privacy keeps colliding

What happened in Madrid is not isolated. As star athletes draw bigger crowds, the off-court and off-floor moments are getting messier. A few recent flashpoints:

• 2023: Brittney Griner, then with the Phoenix Mercury, was accosted in a Dallas airport — one of the incidents that pushed the WNBA toward guaranteeing charter flights.
• 2024: When the league rolled out those charters, Los Angeles Sparks star and WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike said the growth is great, but it also means players need stronger protection from the league.
• 2024: In Washington, D.C., Chicago Sky players were allegedly harassed at their team hotel. Angel Reese called out people who tracked the location and stuck a camera in a teammate's face, and Michaela Onyenwere said getting hassled at the hotel crosses the line.
• 2026: In Madrid for the Laureus World Sports Awards, Biles asks fans to support from a respectful distance — and says she is still happy to say hi in public.

The takeaway

If you spot Biles around Madrid, she is game for a quick hello and a photo. Just skip the hotel stakeout. There is a difference between being a fan and becoming someone else's anxiety trigger, and she is asking people to land on the right side of that line.