ST. LOUIS – Less than a day after the region’s two biggest police departments cut ties with 1st Phorm co-founder Andy Frisella over his comments about female police officers, a St. Louis-area fundraising organization is now distancing itself from the fitness influencer.
Late Monday afternoon, FOX 2 News acquired an internal statement from the St. Louis Guns ‘N Hoses Boxing Association saying it would not accept Frisella’s annual $100,000 donation on principle.
Frisella made disparaging remarks about female police officers during an expletive-laden rant on the September 12 episode of his podcast, “Real AF,” last week.
Frisella, creator of the 75 Hard fitness challenge and co-founder of Supplement Superstore and 1st Phorm, told his cohost that a lot of police officers have a power trip and then he singled out women.
“Every woman cop I’ve ever dealt with, every single f—— one that I’ve ever been pulled over by, tried to make me feel like a f—— b—-. No, that’s not a way to deescalate a situation,” he said. “Especially when you know that if that person didn’t have a badge or a gun, you could punch a hole through their f—— face and end their f—— life.”
Following online blowback, Frisella addressed the matter last Saturday during a Q&A session . After stating that he and his companies are big supporters of law enforcement and put on multiple charitable events for local law enforcement, Frisella said people he knew in law enforcement had taken umbrage with his comments.
He explained that he tends to generalize when speaking and attempted to clarify his remarks.
“I can understand why someone would be upset with that. That wasn’t the intent of my comment, and I did overgeneralize, and I take responsibility for it,” Frisella said.
After Frisella pulled that portion of audio from his September 12 podcast, he issued a 12-minute audio-only apology.
Derek Machens, president of the St. Louis County Police Association, sent a letter to all officers that Frisella’s comments crossed a line and were “unacceptable and incompatible with the values we uphold.”
According to Machens, Frisella only removed that section of the September 12 podcast after facing opposition.
The union president said Frisella’s initial apology was more focused on the fitness entrepreneur’s donations and thus felt disingenuous.
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Guns ‘N Hoses is an annual event that raises money for BackStoppers , which supports the families of first responders who have died or been seriously injured in the line of duty, regardless of gender.
A spokesperson said in the statement that while the organization appreciates 1st Phorm’s prior contributions, Guns ‘N Hoses does not condone or agree with Frisella’s comments and would review its future engagement with the company as a result.
“As we still aim to achieve our $1 million goal for the fourth consecutive year, it will be critical to focus our efforts on raising funds for this year’s event so that we can support and honor the memory of three first responders who have made the ultimate sacrifice in 2024,” the statement says. “To all first responders – we’ve got your back, always.”
FOX 2 will broadcast the Guns ‘N Hoses event live on Wednesday, November 27.
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