The most decorated Olympian in history, Michael Phelps, is no stranger to hate comments. Competing at the very top, athletes like Phelps and the legendary race car driver Danica Patrick receive to a lot of negativity and divisive rhetoric from society.

It doesn’t matter how many medals you win, there will always be some detail for the audience to nitpick. But joining hands with the Players’ Tribune, Phelps, Patrick, and 3 other big-name athletes spoke out against cyberbullying.

Michael Phelps and Danica Patrick joined the “Stand Up” campaign

In 2017, The Players’ Tribune released a video featuring five top athletes, namely Michael Phelps, Danica Patrick, Derek Jeter, Von Miller, and Karl-Anthony Towns. Launched as a part of the “Stand Up” campaign, the film started with the athletes reading terrible comments that the public made about them.

“You can tell by the way she talks, she’s a class-A b***h,” Patrick read out with a stern expression. Words like “marketing tool” and “media wh*re” were often flung at the race car driver. She recited incredibly sexist remarks. “My hatred for Michael Phelps is rekindled every time someone mentions his name,” the swimming legend read. “I’m all about America at the Olympics, but god, I despise Michael Phelps.”

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In response to ungrounded criticism and negativity, the athletes revealed how they deal with cyberbullying. “People say such mean things, [and] all you can do is laugh. They’re talking about someone they’ve never met before. They know nothing about me but it’s awful comments,” The NASCAR driver said. 

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“I don’t even give them the time of the day,” Michael Phelps added. “Couple of years ago, my life changed significantly because I reached for help… It’s hard to go through life alone and do things by yourself.” Danica Patrick also concurs that surrounding yourself with positive people is the right way to deal with all the negativity.

The “Stand Up” campaign

The Players’ Tribune, launched in 2014, is a platform for athletes of all levels to tell their stories safely. Started by Derek Jeter, it aimed to give athletes some control over their narrative. Subsequently, the site’s partnership with American Family Insurance helped launch several projects to increase its reach. 

These include a docuseries entitled ‘Take Action’, and award-winning programs #Verified, Scouting Myself, First Step, and Stand Up. The Stand-Up campaign, in particular, generated more than 12 million video views and over 40 million impressions overall.

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According to their website, “the Stand Up campaign, in partnership with American Family Insurance, harnesses the power of the biggest names in sports to improve their communities.” Notably, it featured the stories of 15 different athletes and tackled different issues to tackle the negative rhetoric prevalent in sports.