Naomi Osaka announced on Twitter on Monday that she will be the first Haitian and Japanese woman to appear on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition, sharing two images of herself from the publication. And, unsurprisingly, right wing pundits had a whole lot to say about it.
Following her announcement, conservative sports analyst, Clay Travis, tweeted about the covers, writing, “Since saying she’s too introverted to talk to the media after tennis matches, Naomi Osaka has launched a reality show, a Barbie, and now is on the cover of the SI swimsuit issue.” Travis was referring to Osaka’s decision in May to withdraw from the French Open after offering to pay a fine rather than participate in post-game press conferences that she said were detrimentally effecting her mental health. Megyn Kelly then retweeted the sports writer’s tweet, adding, “Let’s not forget the cover of (& interview in) Vogue Japan and Time Mag!” According to a screenshot shared by Sporting News, Osaka had a pointed reply for the political commentator that she’s since deleted. The Grand Slam champ apparently retweeted Kelly, writing, “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. Instead your first reaction is to hop on here and spew negativity, do better Megan.”
Kelly doubled down in response, tweeting, “Poor @naomiosaka blocked me while taking a shot at me (guess she’s only tough on the courts). 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,” offering a screenshot of the tennis star’s blocked account as proof. Since posting that follow-up tweet, it has been ratioed by users of the social media platform, receiving over three times as many replies as likes.
In May, Osaka announced she would pay a $15,000 fine for not participating in interviews at the French Open before ultimately deciding to withdraw entirely. “The truth is that I suffered long bouts of depression since the US Open in 2018 and I have had a really hard time coping with that,” she wrote to her Instagram followers at the time. “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. Though the tennis press has always been kind to me (and I wanna apologize especially to all the cool journalists who I may have hurt), I am not a natural speaker and get huge waves of anxiety before I speak to the world’s media. I get really nervous and find it stressful to always try to engage and give you the best answers I can…I’m gonna take some time away from the court now, but when the time is right I really want to work with the Tour to discuss ways we can make things better for the players, press and fans.”
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