CrossFit CEO Glassman resigns amid controversy
Glassman: ‘We’re not mourning for George Floyd’
CrossFit CEO Greg Glassman, already under fire for controversial Twitter posts about racial inequality protests, resigned Tuesday night after it was discovered he told gym owners “we’re not mourning for George Floyd” during a private Zoom call obtained by BuzzFeed News.
The 63-year-old Glassman was apparently heard Saturday dismissing the impact of Floyd’s death two weeks ago while speaking on a call with CrossFit representatives. “We’re not mourning for George Floyd,” Glassman said during the leaked recording. “I don’t think me or any of my staff are.”
Glassman, who founded CrossFit in Santa Cruz 20 years ago, was reportedly responding to a Minneapolis gym owner who wondered why the company hadn’t publicly responded to protests following the death of Floyd, a black man, at the hands of white police officers.
“Can you tell me why I should mourn for him? Other than that it’s the white thing to do — other than that, give me another reason,” Glassman said. “I doubt very much that (protesters are) mourning for Floyd.
“I don’t think that there’s a general mourning for Floyd in any community.”
The CrossFit founder reportedly also shared wild conspiracy theories on the call, including one that Floyd was killed as part of a cover up involving counterfeit money.
Just hours earlier, Glassman’s Twitter activity came under fire. While commenting on a tweet by the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation about how “Racism is a public health issue,” Glassman said, “It’s Floyd-19” in a reference to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He also took aim at the health research organization for attempting to design a “solution to racism” when he felt the institute couldn’t properly deal with the effects of the coronavirus.
Glassman’s tweets were widely panned and caused Reebok and some other companies to distance themselves from CrossFit. Reebok, a longtime partner with CrossFit, announced it wouldn’t renew its contract when it runs out later this year. Some other sponsors, including Rogue, Nobull and Fitaid, also cut ties.
On Sunday, Glassman used his company’s Twitter account to issue an apology, tweeting “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.”
Glassman also tweeted that “Floyd is a hero in the black community and not just a victim. I should have been sensitive to that and wasn’t.”
Even after his apology, a petition calling for Glassman’s resignation as CrossFit’s CEO was created. It had close to 8,000 signatures by late Tuesday afternoon.
A couple of hours later, Glassman made that petition moot by resigning.