Aly Raisman Opens Up About Gabby Douglas Criticism and Meeting Zac Efron

Final Five member talks to E! News about Rio

By Francesca Bacardi Aug 23, 2016 3:47 PMTags
Watch: Aly Raisman Opens Up on Gabby Douglas Criticism

It wasn't all fun and games at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Although the Final Five became a fan favorite team during the Olympic games, member Gabby Douglas experienced something different than praise. While people couldn't get enough of Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, Madison Kocian and Laurie Hernandez, Douglas started to become a victim of online bullying. After singing the national anthem without her hand on her heart and appearing to scowl from the stands while her teammates competed, viewers dubbed the gold medal winner "Crabby Gabby."

Douglas' mom defended her daughter in an interview, and even Douglas spoke out against the cruel haters. But it was Team USA who helped her get through it from day to day. "'We all just tried to cheer her up, and I tried to tell her you can't be on the Internet and Google yourself," Raisman told E! News while discussing her partnership with Bridgestone. "I'm sure any persona that's ever done an interview, if you Google yourself you obviously see negative things about yourself, but we tried to tell her to stay positive and be there for her."

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NBC News/TODAY

Raisman continued, "We're all really proud of her."

Douglas since has overcome the cyberbullying, and has landed a new role this fall: a judge of the Miss America competition! Although she's already looking ahead, Raisman couldn't help but look back on one of her favorite Olympics moments—meeting Zac Efron.

"We're still waiting for the pizzas, Zac, so if you don't have time in Brazil, we'll see you wherever you are in the states," Raisman joked to us. "We're still going to hold him to that."

Pizza parties aside, Raisman couldn't help but gush over the High School Musical alum. "He was very very nice...He spent a lot of time with us," Raisman shared. "We were so excited. We were very very surprised. It was really cool."

Watch: Aly Raisman Gushes Over Meeting Zac Efron in Rio
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Athletes Crying at the 2016 Rio Olympics