The social media success of LSU star gymnast Olivia Dunne has already earned her millions of dollars, due to the NCAA's new NIL (name/image/likeness) rules. Yet that fame also has a scary side — which Dunne has learned the hard way.
During a recent interview with New Jersey Advance Media, Dunne — a social media sensation and the NCAA's highest-earning female athlete — shared a story about an encounter with a stalker on LSU's campus that prompted the senior to pivot to a completely online class schedule.
"I had a scare once with a message that I got about a class I was going to, and I was like, you know what, it's not worth it," Dunne said in the interview. "It was a threat. It seemed like they knew where I was at and what class, and I just decided better (to be) safe than sorry."
Daunting stuff for the 21-year-old gymnast to deal with.
Dunne's story was confirmed by NJ Advance Media, which obtained a copy of an LSU campus police report from Dec. 2, 2021. It detailed that Dunne received death threats on Instagram from a stalker who threatened to "shoot up" the campus. The police report states that "(Dunne) added that due to her large social media following ... she was used to getting strange messages from unknown accounts but has not received a message of this nature before."
What's more, just two months after that police report was filed, an unidentified man was caught watching Dunne and the other LSU gymnasts as they trained inside their practice facility.
The interview with NJ Advance Media isn't the first time Dunne has addressed her safety concerns at LSU. Back in uly, Dunne was featured in Elle Magazine and said, "There were some [security] scares in the past [at LSU], and I just want to be as careful as possible. I don't want people to know my daily schedule and where I am."
The LSU gymnastics program has hired a bodyguard to protect Dunne and her teammates from the massive crowds of screaming (male) teenage fans who show up at every one of LSU's meets. However, LSU's star gymnast is presumably without security while going about her everyday life in Baton Rouge.
Although Dunne's social media presence has earned her a lot of attention — and money — this visibility has also come with security concerns that nobody should have, particularly a 21-year-old college student.
Despite the wealth she has accumulated, Olivia Dunne has been robbed of her college experience.
