CROSSFIT’S CEO IS UNDER FIRE AFTER INSENSITIVE TWEETS ON GEORGE FLOYD
CrossFit is currently losing business partners because of those tweets
When you are the CEO of a reputable company, you need to be careful about what you tweet. CrossFit CEO, Greg Glassman needs to learn this lesson as a series of tweets by him on George Floyd is causing the company to lose business. Not only gym owners are dropping their affiliation with the brand, other business partnerships like its partnership with Reebok has also suffered. Read on to know the full story.
It all began on Saturday when the CEO of CrossFit posted some insensitive tweets regarding George Floyd’s murder. Here’s what he posted:
It's FLOYD-19.
— Greg Glassman (@CrossFitCEO) June 6, 2020
Soon after the insensitive tweets regarding George Floyd, many gym owners decided to drop their affiliation with CrossFit. Some of them were already doing so as the brand had failed to take a stand on the matter.
CrossFit CEO, Glassman realised his mistake of posting the insensitive tweets regarding George Floyd’s murder and apologised. He said via Twitter “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. Floyd is a hero in the black community and not just a victim. I should have been sensitive to that and wasn’t. I apologise for that.”
Even after the apology, many gym owners were not convinced as they stated that the tweets weren’t the only issue. The silence of the brand on the entire matter was also a problem. Alyssa Royse, the owner of Rocket Community Fitness gym, said “Watching both the Covid-19 pandemic and then the United States waking up and fighting for social justice in a really big way and watching CrossFit say nothing was really painful. As a brand, Rocket couldn’t be aligned with a bigger brand that wasn’t on the right side of history … It’s this huge global behemoth that just said nothing.”
By Monday afternoon about 210 gyms had dropped their affiliation with CrossFit over the George Floyd matter.
On June 6, Glassman complicated the matter further by some more tweets in which he criticised the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation’s statement, which said Racism is a Public Health issue. He replied “Floyd-19” to that tweet. He also posted other tweets in which he said that the coronavirus model of the institute had failed and criticised the same for modelling a “solution to racism.”
Your failed model quarantined us and now you're going to model a solution to racism? George Floyd's brutal murder sparked riots nationally. Quarantine alone is "accompanied in every age and under all political regimes by an undercurrent of suspicion, distrust, and riots." Thanks!
— Greg Glassman (@CrossFitCEO) June 7, 2020
Glassman again apologises for the tweets and said that CrossFit “will not stand for racism.”
.@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.
— CrossFit (@CrossFit) June 8, 2020
Soon after Reebok announced that it would not renew its partnership with CrossFit. A renowned sports equipment maker Rogue Fitness has also decided to re-evaluate its work with the company.
All in all, being silent on and insensitive about the George Floyd matter has become harmful for CrossFit, and its CEO. It will be interesting to see how the company gets out of the mess and regain the trust of its partners and clients.
