Olivia Dunne says fiery response to The New York Times ‘hit piece’ led to Sports Illustrated Swimsuit slot

In November 2022, LSU gymnast and Olivia Dunne fired again at The New York Instances after they revealed a column with the headline, “New Endorsements for Faculty Athletes Resurface an Outdated Concern: Intercourse Sells.” The quilt photograph was Dunne in her LSU leotard. 

However what we didn’t know till now was that Dunne’s braveness to talk up towards the column, the place she posted the identical photograph to her Instagram Stories and wrote “Is that this an excessive amount of?” whereas tagging the publication, landed her spot in Sports activities Illustrated’s coveted Swimsuit Version for this 12 months. 

Dunne’s social media presence, which features a whopping 7.6 million on TikTok and 4.2 million on Instagram, grows by the day. It’s led her to quite a few alternatives to revenue due to NIL offers, which has made her one of many highest-grossing faculty athletes within the nation. 

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Olivia Dunne attends the Sports activities Illustrated Swimsuit Challenge launch at Arduous Rock Resort on Might 18, 2023, in New York Metropolis. (Taylor Hill/WireImage)

These offers have been the premise behind The Instances reaching out to Dunne for an interview, which she agreed to. Little did she know the publication had one other angle they needed to write down about. 

“[The New York Times] wrote a success piece about me,” Dunne mentioned on the “Full Ship Podcast” lately. “It was full BS. I imply, they known as me on the cellphone in November and so they informed me that they have been going to write down about my accomplishments and stuff and I used to be like, ‘OK, for certain. That’s superior. The New York Instances. That’s large.’”

Dunne seemed to be excited for the interview, however was a bit bowled over by the questions the interviewer had after they related over the cellphone.

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“The interviewer known as me and he was asking me very odd questions. It was worded fairly bizarre,” she defined. “He was like, ‘So, how does it really feel to be a small petite blonde gymnast doing so properly with NIL.’ I used to be identical to, ‘Why does it matter that I’m petite and blonde.’ You’ll be able to simply ask me about NIL with out you having to make use of these bizarre methods of claiming it.”

The quilt photograph was accomplished by The Instances as properly, with Dunne assembly their photographer in LSU’s gymnastics facility the place she wore her “team-issued leotard.”

“That’s what now we have to put on,” Dunne mentioned in reference to leotards in competitors. “When the article got here out, it was an enormous image of me simply standing there in a leotard and the headline was ‘Intercourse Sells.’ So I used to be like, ‘So, you’re going to return into the gymnasium. You’re going to ask me to pose in our team-issued apparel after which put a headline, ‘Intercourse Sells.’

LSU Tigers gymnast Olivia Dunne throughout a match towards the West Virginia Mountaineers on March 10, 2023, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (John Korduner/Icon Sportswire by way of Getty Photos)

“Within the article, they have been saying the issues I used to be doing have been a step again for girls’s athletics.”

Dunne was fast to reply and Sports activities Illustrated adopted swimsuit. 

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“I suppose it caught Sports activities Illustrated’s consideration after which they have been like, ‘We beloved that you simply clapped again at The New York Instances since they’re so main,’” Dunne mentioned. 

Dunne, who nonetheless has a senior season left to compete in faculty gymnastics, continues to be the face and particular person many corporations and types wish to affiliate their merchandise with. She added that she’s going to proceed to work with those she feels suits her message and what she believes her followers can get behind.

What she gained’t do, although, is apologize for the best way she appears when doing so. 

Olivia Dunne attends as Sports activities Illustrated Swimsuit Celebrates the 2023 Challenge Launch with Swimsuit Island at The Guitar Resort at Seminole Arduous Rock Resort and On line casino. (Alberto Tamargo/Getty Photos for Sports activities Illustrated Swimsuit)

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“You’ll be able to’t management the way you look and I really feel like a woman isn’t liable for a boy’s unhealthy habits, particularly should you’re in a leotard,” she mentioned. “As a result of I knew that if the roles have been reversed and let’s say they went into the soccer facility and took an image of one of many boys and not using a shirt on, they might by no means put an enormous headline, ‘Intercourse Sells.’ They only wouldn’t. It’s as a result of I’m standing there in a leotard.”