Tony Robbins Apologizes For What He Said About #MeToo
Lifestyle guru/con artist (depending which side of the belief coin you’re on) Tony Robbins is used to giving out advice. But he recently found himself on the receiving end of some that could probably be paraphrased as: “Please have several seats, Tony.” And of course he’s now very sorry about it.
According to The Huffington Post, this all started last month during an Unleash the Power Within self-help seminar in San Jose, CA. Tony had some things to say about the #MeToo movement during a confrontation with a woman in the audience named Nanine McCool. Tony said he has spoken to a dozen men who have recently decided not to hire attractive qualified women, simply because it’s “too big a risk.” A risk of what? That all of a sudden those hot-faced lady employees will hypnotize their bosses hands into pinching their ass and calling them “toots” like it’s the 1960s? Tony sympathizes with those poor men, and he also characterized some of the women who have spoken up using the #MeToo as people who “don’t take responsibility for themselves.”
Nanine told Tony that he’s doing a “disservice” with his thoughts, to which he responded that he’s not, because any woman who believes what she believes will keep doing it. He added that he wasn’t mocking the #MeToo movement, but “mocking victimhood.”
The video went viral, and it did not go over well. Tarana Burke, the creator of #MeToo, spoke out on Twitter regarding this mess. She found out about the video before she even saw it, because Tony’s people had reached out to her in an attempt to do some damage control. Tarana wasn’t having it.
I was made aware of this video BEFORE I ever saw it because Tony Robbins people reached out to do damage control within 24 hours. They wanted to “give me context” apparently. I don’t need any. I have eyes. The full video is 11 mins. And it’s gross. Bravo to this woman. https://t.co/gjbm9GF1Mz
— Tarana (@TaranaBurke) April 7, 2018
She then laid it all out for him on Twitter, explaining that#MeToo isn’t about victimization, it’s about survivors, and that survivors are not complicit in their abuse. She then bodied him with this final thought:
@TonyRobbins If you talk to more SURVIVORS and less sexist businessmen maybe you’ll understand what we want. We want safety. We want healing. We want accountability. We want closure. We want to live a life free from shame. That’s the reality of the @MeTooMVMT sir, do better.
— Tarana (@TaranaBurke) April 7, 2018
Someone close to Tony must have pointed him in the direction of Tarana’s Twitter, because he ended up proving her wrong by apologizing. Tony’s sorry came on Sunday in the form of a long statement in which he claims he has “much to learn” and is “committed to being part of the solution.”
https://t.co/rWJ2wob8Ap pic.twitter.com/vRzXEdXVoJ
— Tony Robbins (@TonyRobbins) April 8, 2018
Despite the fact that that definitely sounds like it was copy+pasted from The Damage Control Apology Handbook, it’s still an apology, I guess. A smart decision, for sure – I mean, he wouldn’t want to lose those precious public speaking gig dollars. Especially since you know Sean Penn probably wouldn’t have paid him very much to be the opening act on his book reading tour.
Pic: Wenn.com