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CrossFit’s Founder Greg Glassman Exits Company After Controversy

By Donovan | June 10, 2020 0 Comments

UNITED STATES — A few days after D.M. Fashion Book reported that Boston-based athletic footwear and apparel company Reebok will not be renewing its deal with CrossFit and gyms across the country are dropping their affiliation with CrossFit after controversial remarks tweeted by CrossFit founder and chief executive officer Greg Glassman (see it here), he announced that he has stepped down.

The disgraced and trashy Glassman sent a controversial tweet and reportedly said to affiliated gyms that the company is “not mourning George Floyd”. While Floyd was handcuffed and lying face down on a city street during an arrest, Derek Chauvin, a white American Minneapolis police officer, kept his knee on the right side of Floyd‘s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds; according to the criminal complaint against Chauvin, 2 minutes and 53 seconds of that time occurred after Floyd became unresponsive.

Replying to a public health organization’s post that racism and discrimination are public health issues that demand an urgent response, Glassman had tweeted “It’s FLOYD-19.”

Glassman apologized for his initial controversial tweet but it really doesn’t mean anything and we don’t accept it his apology. CrossFit’s Dave Castro is taking on Glassman’s former role as chief executive officer.

In a statement posted on CrossFit’s site, Glassman said he has decided “to retire.” The executive said, “On Saturday, I created a rift in the CrossFit community and unintentionally hurt many of its members. Since I founded CrossFit 20 years ago, it has become the world’s largest network of gyms. All are aligned in offering an elegant solution to the vexing problem of chronic disease. Creating CrossFit and supporting its affiliates and legions of professional trainers has been a labor of love.”

Glassman continued, “Those who know me know that my sole issue is the chronic disease epidemic. I know that CrossFit is the solution to the epidemic and that CrossFit HQ and its staff serve as the stewards of CrossFit affiliates worldwide. I cannot let my behavior stay in the way of HQ’s or affiliates’ missions. They are too important to jeopardize.”

Photos Credit: Rocksweeper