Source : PERTHNOW NEWS
A pilates studio in Perth’s northern suburbs has found itself at the centre of an internet storm after describing paying members as “overweight” mums following a row over a collaboration with an influencer.
The drama unfolded after Instagram page Hey Perth Mama — which is run by a group of local mums and often shares reviews of family-friendly events and business — reached out to Freemove Pilates studio in mid-August to inquire about exchanging a session for social media promotion.
The pilates studio declined the request, saying they “take great pride in not partnering with influencers” — a message the Perth mums group said was “quite dismissing and honestly a little bit rude”.
In direct messages seen by PerthNow, the mums hit back at the pilates studio, saying they shouldn’t put down creators who see value in collaborating.
The pilates studio doubled down on its anti-influencer policy, telling the Perth page that dealing with influencers was “entertaining cheapskates chasing free lunches for a post or two”.
“Influencers are merely modern day panhandlers,” they added.
Perth Mama shared screenshots of the interaction — with the business name blurred out — asking its followers if they thought the owner’s response was rude.
The pilates studio replied with a post, writing ‘F*** INFLUENCERS”, publicly tagging the Perth Mama page.
After the Freemove Pilates’ post, one of Perth Mama’s followers, Traci, left a one-star Google review for the studio.
“First impressions matter, and unfortunately this business left a poor one,” the now-deleted review read.
“Using dismissing hostile language like ‘cheapskates’ and ‘panhandlers’ reflects poorly on the brand’s culture.”
The review fuelled a angry response from the owner of the northern suburbs studio, who direct messaged Traci about it.
“I read through your whole list of b****ing and moaning,” the owner wrote in a DM to the reviewer.
She stated she owned a small business and not a chain, and she had simply declined to offer a free membership.
“We don’t have influencers in our studio, why? Because most of the members are mums and overweight,” she said.
“None of them want their fat asses splashed over TikTok.”
In a public reply to the now-removed Google review, the business also called Traci a “mean girl” using “cancel culture aimed at a small business because it chooses to uphold values”.
Screenshots shared of the messages gained attention through the Perth community, prompting the business owner to explain her side of the situation.
In a video seen by PerthNow on Wednesday morning, the business owner shared that she had “f***ed up” with her initial message to the content creator.
“I check our Google reviews and we had three really vile reviews based on some internet spat,” she said in the now-deleted post.
“I had a really bad day, I was super emotional about things I had going on in my life, so I deep dived on one and I shouldn’t have.”
She clarified in the six minute video that her ‘fat ass’ comment was not directed at paying studio members, but instead was her referring to herself.
“I myself used to be 100kg, I’ve suffered with my health my entire life,” she said.
“I was referring to myself because I still see myself as a ‘fat ass’, even though I now have a muscle wasting disease and am underweight.”
She ended that video by reiterating that her wording was rude, but she stands by her message.
Many commenters on Perth Mama’s viral post over the saga voiced disgust over how the business owner handled the one-star review.
“I feel sorry for their poor members feeling they’re in a safe space only to be called ‘fat asses’,” one comment said.
Several comments also said they agreed with the studio’s no influencer policy, but said the business could have done a better job at politely communicating it to others.
“You can dislike influencers and decline every collaboration, but referring to your own members as ‘overweight’ and talking about their ‘fat asses’ is appalling!”
