NFL player Jonathan Owens’ headline-making remarks about wife Simone Biles are getting a polarizing response from the women of “The View.”
Owens, a safety with the Green Bay Packers, sparked an online frenzy last month after an appearance on “The Pivot Podcast” when he claimed he wasn’t familiar with Biles ― who happens to be the most decorated gymnast in history ― prior to the start of their relationship.
Later in the chat, Owens was asked if he considers himself to be “the catch” in his relationship with Biles, to which he replied: “I always say that the men are the catch.”
Among those who came to Biles’ defense was “View” co-host Sunny Hostin, who expressed her dismay over Owens’ comments on Tuesday’s episode.
“He knew who she was. She was on a Wheaties box,” Hostin said. “Everybody knows who Simone Biles is. I don’t know who he is.”
Later, she added: “I have trouble with a man who can’t let his spouse or partner shine. That’s troubling to me ... you’re both shining. You’re thriving. You have each other.”
Echoing those sentiments was Sara Haines, who zoomed in on Owens’ gender-specific observation.
“The part that got me is when he says: ‘I always think the man is the catch,’” Haines said. “Have you met other men, and are you listening to yourself right now? I cannot believe.”
Alyssa Farah Griffin, however, urged her co-hosts not to criticize Owens so harshly, given that he was attending college when his future wife catapulted to global fame in 2016.
“If you watch them together, he treats her like a queen,” she noted. “He realized he did get the greatest of all time, and she’s amazing. I think he actually does treat her super well. I root for this one.”
Biles and Owens went public with their romance in 2020, and got married in April of last year.
Appearing on Peacock’s “Back That Year Up” last week, Biles didn’t address her husband’s comments directly but hinted that the two athletes have a competitive nature.
“At the end of the day, gymnastics is harder, if he agrees or not,” she said. “He has done my workout in the gym, and he could barely do it, and then I went to their NFL workout and I crushed it.”
Watch “The View” segment on Simone Biles and Jonathan Owens below.