Founder of 1st Phorm and ‘75 Hard’ fitness challenge says women shouldn’t be cops

ST. LOUIS (KMOV/Gray News) – Andy Frisella, the founder of supplement company 1st Phorm and of the popular fitness challenge “75 Hard,” is facing backlash after comments he made about female police officers on a podcast last week.

“There’s a lot of police officers, and to be completely honest especially women police officers, who f***ing try to emasculate men,” Frisella said on his “Real AF” podcast. “And that’s why, in my opinion, women shouldn’t be in the f***ing field and police officers. I just don’t think they should be.”

He continued, “Every woman cop I’ve ever dealt with, every single f***ing one that I’ve ever been pulled over by, tried to make me feel like a f***ing b****. That’s not a way to de-escalate a situation. Especially when you know if that person didn’t have a badge or a gun, you could punch a hole through their f***ing face and end their f***ing life.”

One female police officer posted a TikTok video responding to Frisella’s comments, saying his opinions were especially shocking because Frisella and his companies have previously been avid supporters of law enforcement.

Frisella’s company 1st Phorm has even sponsored events for fallen officers and donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Backstoppers.

1st Phorm is based out of St. Louis, where local police are condemning his remarks and cutting ties with the company.

In an internal statement from St. Louis County Police Chief Kenneth Gregory to his department, Gregory said the department would no longer be affiliated with 1st Phorm in any way.

“Many of you are aware of the hateful comments made by Andy Frisella with 1st Phorm. His comments were disturbing and despite his attempts at retracting them, we are severing our relationship with his company,” Gregory’s statement read. “Effective immediately, we will no longer be providing services to 1st Phorm via secondary employment, nor receiving donations of any kind or services from them through fitness and nutrition classes.”

St. Louis City Police Chief Robert Tracy also said his department will no longer work with Frisella.

“Female police officers are valued and respected members of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. Each day, they risk their lives in service to the City of St. Louis. Female officers are at the core of our agency, serving in various roles and ranks — from patrol and detectives to specialized enforcement and senior Commanders. His overall and disparaging comments do not reflect our views or core values and have no place in the SLMPD. We are severing ties with the organization,” Tracy said.

Derek Machens, President of the St. Louis County Police Association, also condemned Frisella’s remarks.

“During this episode, Mr. Frisella made highly offensive and abhorrent comments about women in law enforcement. His statements crossed far over the line from criticism to sharing violent fantasies of killing policewomen. These statements are completely unacceptable and incompatible with the values we uphold,” Machens said.

The episode of Frisella’s “Real AF” podcast in which he made the remarks has since been removed, but Frisella posted another episode where he tried to clarify his remarks, as well as an apology episode on Saturday titled “I Messed Up & I’m Sorry.”

The episode starts with Frisella apologizing, saying, “It doesn’t reflect who I am or what I feel in my heart.”

But even after the apology, local police leaders are in no hurry to rebuild their relationship with Frisella.

“Although Mr. Frisella has since issued an apology, it was more focused on his past donations than expressing genuine remorse,” Machens said. “Given the nature of his comments, this apology is insufficient. Such rhetoric is not only disgusting language but also fundamentally undermines the sacrifices made by our women officers.”

In addition to founding 1st Phorm and the viral “75 Hard” fitness challenge, Frisella is also the co-founder of Supplement Superstores and has authored a book titled “The Book on Mental Toughness,” according to his website.

A Forbes article from 2017 said Frisella’s companies bring in more than $100 million per year.

Frisella also has more than 3.3 million followers on Instagram.

Copyright 2024 KMOV via Gray Local Media, Inc. All rights reserved.