Mary Lou Retton “GoFundMe” trends online amid former Olympian’s newly released DUI arrest footage and mugshot
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Mary Lou Retton with her daughter in 2008 (Image via Everett Collection)The fundraising undertaken by Olympic champion Mary Lou Retton’s daughters for her medical expenses in 2023 is facing increased scrutiny in the wake of the release of the gymnast’s raw footage from her DUI arrest in May 2025.
Entertainment Tonight just released a 33-minute-long body cam video from May 17, which shows Retton undergoing sobriety tests. The news outlet also revealed the gymnast’s mugshots. Retton was stopped when the police located her Porsche, which was reportedly “driving all over the roadway,” and found a bottle of wine in the passenger seat with the gymnast slurring her words, as per Forbes.
In the body cam footage, Retton can be seen in the parking lot of an Auto Zone, attempting to follow along with an officer’s directions. Asked to balance solely on one of her legs, Retton can be seen struggling to keep her balance. Retton eventually wears an oxygen cannula to help with her breathing.
Retton is administered a variety of field sobriety tests after she refuses to blow into a breathalyzer. As per Forbes, Retton tells the officer,
“You know I’m not going to blow. They say, don’t blow.”
An officer also referenced Retton’s Olympic background while administering a sobriety and balance test, and said:
“You should be pretty good at this.”
Retton wholeheartedly agreed but failed her tests and was subsequently arrested, as per the body cam footage.
Forbes noted that Mary Lou Retton was charged with a misdemeanor and was subsequently released after posting a $1,500 personal recognizance bond. She also entered a no-contest plea in court and paid a $100 fine, according to the publication.
About Mary Lou Retton’s 2023 medical fundraising
Mary Lou Retton’s recent arrest sparked a renewed interest in the champion’s 2023 health crisis and the controversy surrounding it. In October 2023, Retton battled a rare form of pneumonia and was hospitalized, as per Page Six. At the time, one of her daughters, McKenna Kelley, started a fundraising campaign on spotfund.com to help with Retton’s medical expenses, while claiming that the former gymnast did not have any health insurance. As per Kelley, Retton had been in the “ICU for over a week.”
While the initial goal of the fundraiser was $50,000, Retton’s family ended up raising a whopping $459,354.
According to Page Six, despite the resounding support that Retton and her family received, the gymnast’s daughters were also criticized for asking people to donate money for an Olympian’s medical crisis. The news outlet noted that next year, however, Retton addressed the criticism and defended her daughters during a conversation with Entertainment Tonight:
“They didn’t deserve that. They were just trying to take care of me…My daughters stepped up to the plate, and they saved my life and all the love and support saved my life, and these finances will only go to medical bills and I said what’s left will go to the American Lung Association because I am now a member of the lung disease community.”
As per Page Six, Retton also addressed her finances at the time, and discussed the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact:
“Our job is to be near people and talk to them and so there was no work whatsoever, so I mean, it’s not like it used to be. Let’s say that like the height of my fame was years ago and I just, you know, doing enough to make it, doing enough to pay my bills.”
Mary Lou Retton is clearly still dealing with breathing issues, as her arrest footage shows. Her fans and supporters, however, are questioning the gymnast’s medical fundraising in the wake of her arrest, as per The Mercury News.
TOPICS: Mary Lou Retton, DUI