Naomi Osaka has responded to former Fox News and NBC News journalist Megyn Kelly after she shared an inflammatory tweet directed at the tennis player.
The 23-year-old athlete appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated this week, which prompted journalist Clay Travis to ponder how she made the cover after dropping out of the French Open and unattendance at a press conference in May.
“Since saying she’s too introverted to talk to the media after tennis matches, Naomi Osaka has launched a relaity show, a Barbie, and now is on the cover of the SI swimsuit issue,” wrote Travis.
Osaka said that she was avoiding press following tennis matches due to her social anxiety, and suggested that her introverted nature means she would rather stick to playing sports. “Anyone that knows me knows I’m introverted, and anyone that has seen me at the tournaments will notice that I’m often wearing headphones as that helps dull my social anxiety," she said in a statement at the time. She added that she’s “not a natural public speaker,” and she would often go through “huge waves of anxiety before I speak to the world’s media.”
Kelly, who is publicly criticizing a woman half her age because she experiences social anxiety, appears to think this is unacceptable.
“Let’s not forget the cover of (& interview in) Vogue Japan and Time Mag!” wrote Kelly in response to Travis’ tweet. She previously criticized Osaka when she appeared on the cover of Vogue Japan last month, commenting, “No press, please … you see, her social anxiety makes it intolerable.”
Not long after Kelly’s latest tweet, Osaka responded and criticized Kelly over her lack of journalistic integrity. “Seeing as you’re a journalist I would’ve assumed you would take the time to research what the lead times are for magazines, if you did that you would’ve found out I shot all of my covers last year,” she replied. “Instead your first reaction is to hop on here and spew negativity, do better Megan.”
The 50-year-old Kelly, who had her NBC News show canceled after she defended the use of blackface in Halloween costumes in 2018, has since responded with another unnecessary tweet.
"Poor @naomiosaka blocked me while taking a shot at me (guess she’s only tough on the courts),” she wrote. “She is apparently arguing that she shot her many covers b/4 publicly claiming she was too socially anxious to deal w/press. Truth is she just doesn’t like Qs she can’t control. Admit it."
