© 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.
The CEO of CrossFit is stepping down after comments about George Floyd sparked a social media backlash and led to
affiliated gyms and Reebok cutting ties with the exercise brand famous for its devoted followers.
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."
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