Gene Simmons of KISS and Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers were two names who showed support for athlete Naomi Osaka French Open tennis tournament .
Osaka, who won the Grand Slam, announced a week ago that she would not speak to the press during the tournament and revealed that she had suffered from "long periods of depression" since her victory. The French Open responded by fining the athlete $15,000 and warning that further violations could lead to more severe sanctions, including being banned from the tournament.
Gene Simmons used his Twitter profile to quote an ABC News and write "I support Naomi Osaka," while Flea used his own account to tweet "Naomi Osaka slays."
After the backlash, Osaka used her own Twitter profile to announce that she was withdrawing from the tournament and clarified: “Anyone who knows me knows that I am an introvert and anyone who has seen me at tournaments will notice that I am constantly wearing headphones because they help reduce my social anxiety.”
"As much as the tennis press has always been kind to me (and I would especially like to apologize to all the nice journalists I may have hurt), I am not naturally someone who enjoys public speaking and I experience huge waves of anxiety before speaking to the global media."
READ ALSO: Kiss releases trailer for documentary featuring Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons; watch it
