Tony Robbins has been blasted for his take on #MeToo

By Erin Lindsay
09th Apr 2018

Tony Robbins has been blasted for his take on #MeToo

Tony Robbins is a 58-year-old life-coach, who cites countless celebrities amongst his clients. He regularly speaks to sold-out arenas full of fans of his self-help work and is reportedly worth over $480 million. Robbins has become the subject of a backlash over his comments on the #MeToo movement, in a video that has surfaced online of one of his recent seminars.

The video was taken at one of Robbins’ “Unleash the Power Within” events in San Jose, California. In the footage, Robbins criticised those who have spoken up as part of the #MeToo movement, saying he believes that those who “use” the movement, do so to “use a drug called significance to make [yourself] feel good”.

During his commentary, a woman attending the event named Nanine McCool stood up to counter Robbins’ comments. McCool said that she believed Robbins “misunderstood” and “mischaracterized” the movement. In response, Robbins said that he “was not knocking #MeToo, [he was] knocking victimhood”.

McCool’s defence of #MeToo was met with widespread applause from the audience, but the discussion further developed between her and Robbins when he called her out to the aisle to participate in an illustration of his point. In the footage, Robbins asked McCool to put out her fist and then can be seen to push her backwards down the aisle, saying that “when you push someone else, it doesn’t make them more safe, it just makes them angrier” in response to McCool’s resistance.

The bizarre exchange was met with outrage on social media, with many accusing Robbins of misogyny and calling the footage “disturbing”. The official account of the #TimesUp movement also responded to the video:

Hey @tonyrobbins, are you serious? Well you also said, “The path to success is to take massive, determined action.” Don’t worry, we’re on it. #TIMESUP https://t.co/8Wp4NRW2vN
— TIME'S UP (@TIMESUPNOW) April 8, 2018