You are either a racist or an anti-racist. #gregglassman and #crossfithq have picked the wrong side. I don’t need a brand name to maintain my commitment to fitness.

A post shared by Anna He?le?ne Paquin (@_annapaquin) on Jun 7, 2020 at 1:32pm PDT

Crossfit has a cult following, with small independent franchise gyms across the US. We don’t have one in my town, but their daily workouts look brutal. (Full disclosure: I’m going on the posted workouts, I haven’t actually done Crossfit.) There’s a real camaraderie and sense of community among Crossfitters. Actress Anna Paquin loves their workouts and posts photos where she’s making friends with other Crossfitters, even when she travels. So when I saw her post saying she wasn’t going to be loyal to the brand anymore I was surprised. It turns out that the CEO and founder, Greg Glassman, made a horribly racist tweet. Several franchises are cutting ties, Reebok has ended their contract with them, and some top athletes in the Crossfit games have announced that they will no longer compete. Glassman has apologized, but only after he was rightfully called out for it. Here’s what he tweeted on Saturday. It was so bad.

It’s FLOYD-19.

— Greg Glassman (@CrossFitCEO) June 6, 2020

That’s awful and racist on several levels. Plus Anna Paquin has shared an internal email he sent putting someone on blast for calling him racist. (You can see that in her Instagram slideshow at the top of this post.) Prior to this, Crossfit and Glassman hadn’t issued any tweets or posts in support of Black Lives Matter or in reference to George Floyd’s murder. Glassman has since “apologized” for that tweet but insists he’s not racist. Interestingly enough, this was tweeted from the official Crossfit account, not Glassman’s personal account. This is bad, but how much do you want to bet he didn’t even write it? They probably took his explanation, sanitized it and tried to make him sound sorry and like he cares.

“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 apologize for that. I was trying to stick it to the @IHME_UW for their invalidated models resulting in needless, economy-wrecking, life-wrecking lockdown, and when I saw they were announcing modeling a solution to our racial crisis, I was incredulous, angry, and overly emotional. Involving George Floyd’s name in that effort was wrong.

It’s our hope that his murder catalyzes real change resulting in a level playing field for our black brothers and sisters.

Please hear me when I say, we stand by our community to fight for justice. I care about you, our community, and I am here for you.”

[From Twitter]

So he’s anti-lockdown too? It figures. At least 300 gyms, multiple sponsors and Crossfit athletes have since cut ties with Crossfit. People has more:

Glassman’s tweet of June 6 set off an outcry among the thousands of CrossFit gym members, owners, professional athletes and many of the brands that have long been affiliated with CrossFit. Reebok, which has been the exclusive maker of all official CrossFit apparel and the title sponsor of the annual CrossFit games for the last 10 years, said that they would drop their affiliation once their contract ends this year.

Several other sponsors, including Rogue, which manufacturers barbells and other weightlifting equipment used in CrossFit, have also dropped their partnerships.

And as of Monday morning, at least 300 gyms have dropped their CrossFit affiliation and changed their names, according to a Google Spreadsheet that began circulating on Reddit. In New York City, for example, CrossFit Greenpoint has switched their name to Greenpoint Athletics and CrossFit Queens has become Community Fitness of Queens. Many others are still deciding on a new name.

“Our partnership with CrossFit HQ comes to an end later this year. Recently, we have been in discussions regarding a new agreement, however, in light of recent events, we have made the decision to end our partnership with CrossFit HQ,” Reebok said in a statement to Footwear News. “We will fulfill our remaining contractual obligations in 2020. We owe this to the CrossFit Games competitors, fans and the community.”

Professional CrossFit athletes have spoken out against Glassman’s tweet and a growing list have said that they will not continue to support the organization unless they take further action to support the Black community, Morning Chalk Up reported. Five athletes have said that they will decline their invitation to the 2020 CrossFit Games if there is not further action.

[From People]

I’m glad that the gyms are cutting ties particularly and that the athletes and companies are too. Glassman is an awful person and he’ll always be known as a racist now. Good. I don’t know how Crossfit will recover from this unless Glassman steps down and is replaced by someone else.

I’ve had the enormous pleasure of having this stunning badass @efaburkecf as my CrossFit coach here in London for the last year or so and I’m so happy for her and her new chapter at @voguefitness.marinamall but I’m really going to miss her! Good luck Aoife!!!! Thank you so much for kindness, patience and inspiration. I hope your new CrossFit home knows just how damn lucky they are to have you!!! ????????

A post shared by Anna He?le?ne Paquin (@_annapaquin) on Aug 14, 2019 at 3:18am PDT

This is badass I wish I could do this:

A little Saturday morning stroll on my hands with the amazing @efaburkecf 3rd of these was the best and of course the ones before we turned the camera on were even better. Then 6 rounds of 5 power cleans and 9 over barbell burpees followed by 6 rounds of 5 deadlifts and 8 wall balls aka my CrossFit kryptonite. #fuckwallballs #strongisbeautiful #ladiesofcrossfit

A post shared by Anna He?le?ne Paquin (@_annapaquin) on Aug 10, 2019 at 10:53am PDT