Suni Lee Says She's Gotten 'So Much Hate' Over Relationship with Football Player Jaylin Smith
The Olympic gold medalist recently opened up about the backlash she said she has received to her interracial relationship with another college athlete
By Stephanie WengerJanuary 05, 2022 07:22 PM
ADVERTISEMENT
FBTweetMore
CREDIT: SUNI LEE/ INSTAGRAM
Gymnast Sunisa Lee recently shared that she has received negative comments from her own Hmong-American community because of her interracial relationship with boyfriend Jaylin Smith.
The Olympic gold medalist, 18, opened up about her experience in response to a Dec. 30 TikTok video posted by another user, which showed support for the couple.
"I know that Sunisa will be judged by certain eyes in the Hmong Community because her man is Black," user alixphom wrote in the caption of a video of him giving a photo of the pair a thumbs-up. "LOVE is LOVE, no matter what race or gender you are. Keep doing you QUEEN."
RELATED: Suni Lee Celebrates Being Named to 2021 TIME100 List: 'No Way!'
The former Dancing with the Stars competitor wrote back in the comment section about the backlash she said she has received since becoming social-media official with Smith — a football player at the University of Southern California — over the holidays.
"This makes me so happy," Lee wrote. "I've received so much hate they support me when it's beneficial for them never when it comes to my happiness. thank you!"
Lee made her relationship public last month by posting a series of photos of herself cuddling the college athlete on Instagram. She captioned the images with a heart emoji.
RELATED: Suni Lee Shares Why She Turned Down Hailey Baldwin's Offer to Meet Justin Bieber at Met Gala
The Auburn University freshman made headlines last year when she became the first Asian-American female gymnast to win the Olympic all-around competition, at the Tokyo Games.
Lee has been outspoken about the importance and responsibility of being a barrier-breaker, especially for other members of the Hmong community.
"Just be an inspiration to other Hmong people [means] a lot to me too," she previously told PEOPLE.
Lee also revealed last year that she was the target of an apparently racist pepper spray attack during a night out with friends.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free weekly newsletter to get the biggest news of the week delivered to your inbox every Friday.
She told PopSugar that the incident happened when she and a group of girlfriends, who are all Asian, had been waiting for their ride home during a night out.
People in a passing car began yelling racist slurs at them, she said. The passengers told the women to "go back to where they came from" and someone inside the car sprayed Lee's arm with pepper spray.
CREDIT: SUNI LEE/ INSTAGRAM
RELATED: Suni Lee Says She Was Hit with Pepper Spray in Recent Racist Attack: 'There Was Nothing I Could Do'
Frozen in the moment, Lee said: "I was so mad, but there was nothing I could do or control because they skirted off."
"I didn't do anything to them, and having the reputation, it's so hard because I didn't want to do anything that could get me into trouble," she said. "I just let it happen."
