Olivia Dunne -- an LSU gymnastics star and one of the most followed college athletes on social media -- is calling for respect from her supporters ... after a group of them were seen in a disturbing video parked outside one of her meets wildly screaming for her.
The gaggle of college-aged boys posted up at an exit of the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Friday just after the Tigers and Utah Utes battled on the floor ... and the sea of males could be seen in the footage not just chanting her name, but asking repeatedly where she was.
At one point, after the camera panned down the line of yelling people, one of the men in the video said, "Please. Do you know where Livvy is? I'm serious."
This is actually so scary and disturbing and cringey. I’m embarrassed for them… pic.twitter.com/h23bBdBQ9B
— Samantha Peszek (@samanthapeszek) January 8, 2023
According to the mother of Utes gymnast Jillian Hoffman, the scene away from the camera grew even more unnerving ... as Jennifer Hoffman said in a Facebook post several of the fans in the area were "so rude and disrespectful" to her daughter and teammates.
"They literally said to their faces," Jennifer wrote, "you are not Livvy but you will do, can we get a picture."
The reporter who shot the clip called the site "scary and disturbing and cringey." Another reporter on the scene said LSU actually had to move its team bus to avoid the crowd.
Livvy eventually sent a tweet on Sunday night asking her fans to be more "respectful" going forward.
"I will always appreciate and love the support from you guys," said Dunne, who has 6.7 million followers on TikTok, "but if you come to a meet, I want to ask you to please be respectful of the other gymnasts and the gymnastics community as we are just doing our job."
Dunne had interacted with some of the fans at the meet -- after they were seen inside of the stadium holding signs and chanting her name. She took selfies with them, and appeared to thank them for coming.
She faced criticism, though, for acknowledging the mob at the arena -- backlash that Dunne's mother said in a tweet on Sunday was completely inappropriate.
"It is not ok to blame any athlete/celebrity when fan behavior crosses the line," Katherine Dunne said. "In a sport where all the girls wear nothing but leotards stop suggesting that how Livvy dresses means she deserves this in any way. Stop shaming girls for the behavior of boys."
Livvy's popularity has exploded in the past year -- piling up millions of followers on all of her social media platforms, while securing NIL deals reportedly worth north of $2 million.
It's unclear if LSU has plans going forward to beef up security at her events -- the Tigers' next meet is slated for Friday at Kentucky.