YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY

Springfield, MO

Log in Subscribe

CrossFit Springfield operates at 1900 W. Sunset St.
Photo courtesy CrossFit Springfield
CrossFit Springfield operates at 1900 W. Sunset St.

CrossFit Springfield to 'de-affiliate' over comments by CEO

Posted online

Last edited 12:45 p.m., June 10, 2020

CrossFit Springfield is parting ways with the corporate brand after its CEO tweeted comments that have been widely criticized over racial insensitivity.

Local owner Jeremy Mhire said in a video posted to Facebook yesterday that the Springfield gym would be taking steps to "de-affiliate," effective immediately.

Multiple gyms affiliated with Washington, D.C.-based CrossFit Inc. have moved to disconnect from the brand after CEO Greg Glassman on June 6 responded to a post from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation that stated "racism is a public health issue."

"It's FLOYD-19," Glassman tweeted in response, making a nod to the killing of George Floyd and the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Your failed model quarantined us and now you're going to model a solution to racism?" he later tweeted. "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!"

In the CrossFit Springfield video, Mhire said Glassman's comments do not represent "what we've worked to build."

"The insensitivity of Greg Glassman's tweet, the untimeliness, the social unawareness ... it doesn't align with everything that I know God has purposed within me and within our culture and our community at CrossFit Springfield," Mhire said.

Mhire said he has a "name that I've sat on for years," but did not disclose it in the video.

CrossFit Springfield is not the only local gym affiliated with the corporate brand to speak out after Glassman's comments.

In a Facebook post yesterday, CrossFit Republic owners Macy and Jennifer Mitchell said Glassman's "statements bring further divide and disunity in a time where we need leadership."

"Our next steps are being considered as we watch how HQ responds in the future," the post reads. "In the meantime, while we do not stand with these comments, our desire is to continue to serve and unify our local community."

Mel Farrales, owner of CrossFit Raw Steel in east Springfield, said in an interview this morning that “we don't condone, we don't believe and agree with what” Glassman said on Twitter.

“We are just thinking about all the options right now,” he said, noting the gym would be in discussion with its members later today. “I think we have created a fitness community that is very inclusive and just supportive.”

Glassman has since apologized for his remarks via Twitter.

"I, CrossFit HQ, and the CrossFit community will not stand for racism. I made a mistake by the words I chose yesterday," he said. "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."

Comments

No comments on this story |
Please log in to add your comment
Editors' Pick
Business Spotlight: The Right Focus

Helping people is the foremost purpose in business for Angela Stephens. The idea for Re-Focus the Creative Office was born to help her son, Drake Stephens, who had started struggling in school in fifth grade.

Most Read
Update cookies preferences