USA Gymnastics Denies Silencing McKayla Maroney Over Abuse

USA Gymnastics has denied claims it tried to keep Olympic gymnast McKayla Maroney quiet about sex abuse by former team doctor Larry Nassar. In a statement late Wednesday, the organization rejected claims made in a lawsuit by a lawyer for Maroney that USA Gymnastics imposed a confidentiality agreement on the gymnast so it “could further conceal and shield from public scrutiny… the true nature of Nassar’s horrific sexual abuse of minors.” Maroney went public with allegations against Nassar in October, nearly a year after the confidentiality agreement was signed in December 2016. The organization has blamed Gloria Allred, Maroney’s lawyer at the time of the settlement, for initiating “the concept of confidentiality.” The organization went on to applaud Maroney for coming forward, saying it wants “to work together with McKayla and others to help encourage and empower athletes to speak up against abuse.” Maroney’s lawyer, John Manley, called the organization’s statement “misleading.”