Source : PERTHNOW NEWS
A Perth pilates studio has issued a public statement after recent comments from its owner sparked backlash across the city, saying she had “positive” intentions.
PerthNow revealed on Thursday that the studio had come under fire after the owner described paying members as “overweight” amid a row over a collaboration with an influencer.
After screenshots revealing the controversial messages were shared, hundreds of people across Perth’s health and fitness community expressed shock and disgust over the owner’s comments.
In a statement following PerthNow’s coverage on the incident, Freemove’s business director — who is also the husband of the owner behind the comments — addressed the mounting community backlash and acknowledged the poor wording of the messages.
“A heated exchange of words with an influencer occurred, where the owner was defending the business and explaining why Freemove does not build its studios around influencer content,” the statement said.
“(The owner) acknowledges that her language was crude and poorly expressed.
“She should have communicated more carefully — the wording was not eloquent, polished or appropriate for a public exchange.
“We regret any distress this caused members.”
The business went on to specifically call out the controversial weight comments, saying they were indeed crude but were not said with ill-intentions towards the plus-sized members of their community.
“It’s fair to recognise that ‘fat asses’ was unnecessarily crude (but) there was no negative implication spoken or implied,” it said.
“Acknowledging body size is not body shaming — (the owner) did not in any way say or imply that larger bodies were inferior or shameful.
“Crude wording is not fat shaming. We reject that this reflects contempt for larger bodies or a body shaming culture.”
The northern suburbs business closed its lengthy apology by inviting members to consider that the owner had “positive” intentions while sending the messages.
“She was defending Freemove,” the company said. “Freemove and its owner are authentic, genuine, unscripted and extremely passionate — we don’t apologise for this.
“We do not claim to be perfect, and sometimes despite our best efforts, we can be misrepresented.
“Criticism of wording is legitimate — fake reviews, abusive messages, threats against the business and an online smear campaign are not.
“None of us are perfect — yet some are acting like they’ve never made a mistake themselves.”
The business page has turned comments off on both the apology post and the rest of their social media posts.
