© Eduardo Contreras/San Diego Union-TribuneFormer CrossFit CEO and founder Greg Glassman, speaks at Fathom CrossFit in Southern California. He resigned June 9, 2020, after audio leaked of a call with CrossFit affiliate gyms in which he cast doubt on the legitimacy of George Floyd protests and advanced conspiracy theories about Floyd's death and COVID-19.
Greg Glassman said in a statement posted on CrossFit's website late Tuesday that he decided to retire. Glassman had apologized earlier for tweets that sparked online outrage by connecting Floyd, a black man who died at the hands of Minneapolis police, and the coronavirus pandemic. He said he had made a mistake and should have been more sensitive, but denied being racist.
"On Saturday I created a rift in the CrossFit community and unintentionally hurt many of its members," he said. "I cannot let my behavior stand in the way of HQ's or affiliates' missions."
Glassman had angered many with his glib response to a tweet by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, a health research group, which said, "Racism is a public health issue."
"It's FLOYD-19," he replied on Saturday, and in a second tweet criticized the group's "failed" quarantine model and accused it of attempting to "model a solution to racism."
On Tuesday — before his resignation — BuzzFeed News published a story about Glassman's conduct on a Zoom call with affiliate gym owners that included some of the audio. On the call, which BuzzFeed reported occurred before the tweet, Glassman further cast doubt on the sincerity of those upset about Floyd's killing, and veered into a conspiracy theory about his death at the hands of Officer Derek Chauvin.
Glassman was reported to have said:
- "Can you tell me why I should mourn for (Floyd)? Other than that it's the white thing to do — other than that, give me another reason."
- "I doubt very much that they're mourning for Floyd. I don't think that there's a general mourning for Floyd in any community."
- "Killing George was wrong ... Burning the town down was wrong, killing the Black cop was wrong, and the Black-on-Black murder every weekend in every one of our cities is a tragedy."
- "It's very interesting that George gets popped with counterfeits, and who comes but the head of security from the dance club? Watch: This thing's going to turn into first-degree murder. That's what it's going to turn into. And it's going to be because I'm predicting this. We have friends in the FBI in your neighborhood, and they're of the view that this was first-degree murder and it was to silence him over the counterfeit money. That's the belief. That's what the cops think."
Speculation about the coronavirus being born from a Chinese lab has not been substantiated.
Glassman also said he believed coronavirus related shutdowns will have "cost way more lives than have been saved."
"My first thought was, I thought maybe I was being punked, but I knew how he was and I thought this is just bats--- crazy," one CrossFit franchise owner in North Carolina told BuzzFeed. "I'm sitting there, like, my jaw is dropping. Is this happening? What is this guy saying?"
"The tweet is bad. It's insensitive," he said. "But as someone who listened to the call, you know the tweet is nothing compared to the phone call."
BuzzFeed said it received the recording through its anonymous tip line.
CrossFit released a lengthy post on its website explaining its failures, but also hailing Glassman as a visionary who "relentlessly attacks those who dilute or deny essential truths." The company compared its reticence to speak out on social issues with the time and diligence it put into publishing fitness articles on its website.
A tweet celebrating Glassman is still pinned to the top of the CrossFit Twitter account as of Wednesday morning. Dave Castro, a longtime figure in the company, will take over as CEO.
Some 1,250 gyms have now severed links with CrossFit, according to industry blog Morning Chalk Up. An anonymously curated Google spreadsheet lists hundreds of CrossFit affiliates with links to their social media accounts, with most saying they have cut ties, or are considering doing so.
"In light of recent comments made by CrossFit CEO, we are deaffiliating from CrossFit," read a post on the Instagram account for CrossFit Central of Austin, Texas. "We are resolute in our anti-racist beliefs and stance against police brutality. We stand in solidarity with the black community."
According to the CrossFit website, the annual fee for affiliation is $3,000, which allows gyms to use the CrossFit name, logo, and promotional materials, among other perks.
The post by CrossFit Central echoed the sentiments of hundreds of other gyms around the world in what has been an astonishingly swift backlash against CrossFit. The speed at which companies and affiliates have distanced themselves from the mother ship was accelerated by social media, and to some degree, the coronavirus pandemic, said marketing and branding expert Allen Adamson.
"I do think there is a heightened sensitivity right now with people staying in and working from home due to the virus," said Adamson. "Social media has always been a megaphone and accelerator to change, but social media impact is at its peak right now. People are glued to their phones and screens all the time."
Adamson, founder of the marketing and consulting firm Metaforce, said companies used to be able to avoid social justice issues for the most part, but because of technology, executives can easily weigh in on issues with personal opinions that often offend their customers. On the flip side, if they remain silent, customers can interpret that as acceptance or compliance with that widely perceived injustice.
"More and more companies are being pulled into a broader conversation and it's posing all sorts of challenges for their business," Adamson said. "It just requires the leadership team to be very careful about what they say. You can't unwind it."
CrossFit is based in Santa Cruz, California.
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