Olivia Dunne’s Gesture Backfires on Paul Skenes as MLB Community Stirs Controversy

Olivia Dunne — the Sports Illustrated model, a social media influencer, and mostly known for her gymnastics career, in a 5-year haul with the LSU team, she became one of the very faces of the team and when she shed the tears and sorrow of her retirement from gymnastics altogether— a sport she had been adding since 3, her retirement plans were already in place. One of them was to be with Paul. Speaking with PEOPLE at Fanatics Fest, she shared: “I’m trying to go to as many baseball games as I can. I really just enjoy watching him and he’s always on the go. He’s an athlete, so I get it. I get the grind.”Well, Dunne’s getting the grind and hate as well.

Dunne attended the Minnesota Twins vs. Pittsburgh Pirates game at Target Field on July 11, supporting her boyfriend, Pirates starter Paul Skenes. In a tough matchup, Skenes pitched five strong innings, allowing just two earned runs, but still took the loss when Pittsburgh fell 2–1. The headline moment? Dunne was playfully featured on the Jumbotron, only to draw criticism from some MLB fans online. “I have no idea who this is,” read one cold comment — a subtle yet stinging dismissal of her identity. Now she is facing it again.

A very wholesome moment took place between Paul Skenes and Olivia Dunne at the 2025 MLB All-Star Game red carpet in Atlanta on July 15th. Skenes elegantly kneeled to re‑lace his girlfriend’s heel strap as she lifted her navy, backless halter dress. “Getting Red-Carpet ready with Paul Skenes and Livvy Dunne ”, the official Instagram handle of the MLB, uploaded the video with this caption. And a fan asked, “Can we just stick to baseball posts please

 

 

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Seeing how the fans are outraged on Dunne after her last MLB game attendance and now with this, it is quite evident that the MLB fans are not very happy with the emerging power couple. All of this after he has a secret ritual for her boyfriend to perform well, shocking! Let’s take a look at what fans are saying.

Fans question MLB for posting Olivia Dunne

To start with, many fans have started to compare Dunne and Skenes to Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. One person said, ” it’s starting to turn into taylor swift and travis Kelce” while another didn’t back down from saying, “Travis and Taylor of MLB button >>>” What they mean is that MLB is doing what the NFL did with “Travis and Taylor”—marketing Paul  Skenes and Olivia  Dunne as their own star couple to attract younger, digital-first audiences. Skenes himself even confirmed,Yes, MLB is trying to market us as that.

This report is developing…

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