Following controversy over CrossFit CEO Greg Glassman’s racially insensitive tweet about George Floyd, other allegations about the CEO’s private remarks have been made public.
Over the weekend, Glassman responded to a tweet from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, which called racism and discrimination “critical public health issues that demand an urgent response.” Glassman replied “It’s FLOYD-19.” Glassman’s tweet refers to George Floyd, a black man who died on May 25 when a police officer knelt on his neck for over 8 minutes.
It’s FLOYD-19.
In response to Glassman’s tweet, CrossFit athletes and brands dropped affiliations and partnerships, including official gear sponsor Reebok and equipment provider Rogue. Glassman issued a response to his initial tweet on June 7.
.@CrossFitCEO: “I, CrossFit HQ, and the CrossFit community will not stand for racism. I made a mistake by the words I chose yesterday.
My heart is deeply saddened by the pain it has caused. It was a mistake, not racist but a mistake.
On the same day of Glassman’s statement from CrossFit’s Twitter account, sports scientist and performance director Mike Young published a Medium article that alleged that Glassman said, repeatedly, “I do not mourn George Floyd,” to a Minneapolis CrossFit gym owner on a group video conference call.
In a separate communication, Seattle’s Rocket CrossFit gym owner Alyssa Royse shared an alleged interaction with Glassman via email after airing concerns about CrossFit HQ’s silence on the national movements following Floyd’s death.
“I wrote a letter to the CEO, because we’d had a relationship for years,” Royse wrote in a blog post titled ‘CrossFit, Black Lives and COVID’ announcing the gym’s disaffiliation with CrossFit. “And because as someone who loves CrossFit, I was genuinely worried about the future of the company, which has so much potential to do so much good. I genuinely love CrossFit. So I reached out.”
Glassman’s alleged response to Royse was not consistent with the sentiments he shared in his Twitter apology.
“Alyssa, I sincerely believe the quarantine has adversely impacted your mental health,” he wrote.
The message went on to call Royse “delusional” and a “shitty person.”
The exchange led Royse to disaffiliate from CrossFit, and to re-name the gym Rocket Community Fitness, which was also addressed in the blog post.
“It is our blueprint for why we are disaffiliating. His letter is just the cherry on top…we’ll soon be relaunching as Rocket Community Fitness. Because (we) cannot stand on the wrong side of history, even if we lose friends because of it. BLACK LIVES F*CKING MATTER,” Royse wrote.
Men’s Health reached out to CrossFit regarding Glassman’s alleged comments, but we have not received a response as of press time.
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