Shawn Johnson Reacts After Husband Puts Her Bikini Pic on Billboard

Shawn Johnson, Andrew East. Mike Marsland/Getty Images for Omega

Olympian Shawn Johnson East gave husband Andrew East her honest review after he decided to take out a billboard of her bikini body for her birthday.

“I don’t [like it] — at all,” Johnson East, 33, told her spouse in an Instagram Story video uploaded on Tuesday, January 21. “It’s not anger, but it’s [disappointment].”

She continued, “He thought it was cute and it had to do with my birthday, evidently. It was my birthday present and I think he missed the mark. Just buy jewelry! I am embarrassed and sorry to say that he made a billboard — and he decided to choose a bikini picture.”

East, 33, clarified in the clip that he chose “a snorkel picture” even though the retired gymnast was wearing a two-piece swimsuit. (He further asserted the tribute was meant as “an ode to love.”)

“You put words over 90 percent of my body, but not my freaking crotch,” Johnson East explained. “If you’re a girl, you’ll be like, ‘I get it.’ What the [heck]?”

Courtesy of Shawn Johnson/Instagram

According to Johnson East, the billboard was installed “right next to Vanderbilt University” in Nashville for the entire city to see.

“So, when you go in for your prestigious education and you look over and see that, I don’t think that’s a good reflection of what Vanderbilt can give you,” Johnson East said, joking about East’s alma mater. “I’m sure Vandy is so proud! I am sorry for everything you get to see as you sit in Owen.”

East tried to soothe his wife’s concerns, mentioning that the billboard is only up for “four more weeks.”

“There’s only one more surprise,” East, a former football player, said with a laugh as Johnson East appeared startled.

Johnson East also shared an image of the billboard, which featured four pictures of her — including one where she was wearing a swimsuit — alongside the text “Shawn Johnson Is Cool [Dot] Com.”

Courtesy of Shawn Johnson/Instagram

“My husband did a thing and I can only summarize my response as, like, disappointment,” she wrote alongside her upload.

The couple have been married since 2016 and welcomed daughter Drew in 2019. Sons Jett and Bear followed in 2021 and 2023, respectively.

Jason Kempin/Getty Images

“I feel like we’re slowly getting into a routine,” Johnson East exclusively told Us Weekly in March 2024. “It was touch and go there for a while, but we’re finally settling in, which is feeling more manageable.”

She added at the time, “Honestly, the first couple weeks of three was super — it felt easy, as easy as it can be. The only hard part was he was our first kind of colicky baby. We had some things we needed to figure out, and we hadn’t dealt with that before.”