Parenting

Tony Robbins Intimidates Sexual Assault Survivor In Disturbing Video

by Cassandra Stone
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Image via Chance Yeh/Getty/Twitter

He physically pushes a woman backward over and over again to prove his “point” about #MeToo

Tony Robbins is an incredibly well-known life coach and philanthropist who regularly tours the world to promote his self-help ideologies. However, he recently used his massive physical size (he’s about seven feet tall) to intimidate a female audience member while simultaneously denouncing the entire #MeToo movement — so what kind of “self-help” is that, exactly?

In a video shared by Now This, Robbins is standing on stage at one of his massive seminars and talking about how the #MeToo movement is really just about a bunch of angry women looking for “significance.” Basically, he’s not holding back on his misogyny in any way.

“If you use the #MeToo movement to try and get significance and certainty by attacking and destroying someone else, you haven’t grown an ounce,” he says. He then accuses women of using #MeToo to make ourselves “feel good.” Well thank you, Tony Robbins, for proving we desperately need cultural change.

Insulting and tone deaf as his opinions may be — especially for a “self-help” guru — that’s not the worst part of the video. A woman in the audience named Nanine McCool, a sexual assault survivor herself, stood up and called him out for “misunderstanding the #MeToo movement.”

So what does Robbins do? He walks his giant body over to her, and begins pushing her backwards and using his imposing size to physically intimidate her. “You’re telling me the more I push, the more I am going to be safe?” Robbins asks McCool and the crowd, trying to prove — well, it’s not sure what point he’s trying to make here other than the fact that he’s a total asshole.

McCool wasn’t having any of it, though. “You’re a leader and an influential man,” she says. “And you are doing a disservice, in my opinion, to the #MeToo movement.” Robbins, who apparently has selective hearing when it comes to women confronting his buffoonery, goes on to tell a story about a “very famous, very powerful man” who’s a client of his, who feels he can’t hire women anymore — “attractive” ones, anyway — because of #MeToo.

And then exactly zero people shed a single tear for Robbins or his probably fictional pal.

Tarana Burke, creator of #MeToo and powerful advocate, was apparently contacted by Robbins’ PR team, who wanted to do some damage control and get ahead of the story. Nice try, but it’s a “no” from her.

It seems like many people on Twitter feel Tony Robbins is canceled.

https://twitter.com/jetpack/status/982506200653639680https://twitter.com/jetpack/status/982406994945564677

There’s so much to unpack in the Tony Robbins video — physical force and intimidation, his warped view of the #MeToo movement, and the fact that so many people worldwide pay him for advice and inspiration. #MeToo exists for myriad of reasons — and Robbins just showed us all that he’s one of them.

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