Dana Rieck
ST. LOUIS COUNTY -- Club Fitness said Tuesday morning it has removed all 1st Phorm-branded products from its shelves.
The decision came a few days after one of the nutrition company's owners, Andy Frisella, came under fire for comments he made on his podcast. He said he did not think women should be police officers, and that men could "punch a hole through their (expletive) face and end their (expletive) life" if the women officers weren't armed with guns and badges.
"As a company, we have always stood by our first responders," said Brian Sullivan, Club Fitness' director of marketing.
The company, which was founded in 1983 and is 100% employee-owned, operates 19 locations in the St. Louis region.
Sullivan also noted that the chain of gyms recently began offering a complimentary six-month membership to all police and fire academy recruits during their training.
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Two local police nonprofits also cut ties with Frisella.
The fitness mogul is a long-standing financial contributor to Guns 'N Hoses, which hosts an annual fundraiser to support families and dependents of first responders who are injured or die in the line of duty.
Steve Holley, Guns 'N Hoses executive director, said that Frisella has donated $100,000 yearly to the organization.
"We will not be accepting a donation this year and we will be reviewing our future engagement in light of these comments," Holley said in a statement. "Our primary focus remains on supporting the families of first responders who have died or been severely injured in the line of duty, regardless of gender, by raising funds for BackStoppers."
BackStoppers also issued a statement that said they do not condone the comments, and that they support Holley's decision to cut ties with Frisella.
Frisella made the controversial comments in an episode of his "Real AF" podcast on Thursday, which also happened to be National Police Woman's Day. The comments came as he discussed last weekend's traffic stop of Tyreek Hill, a wide receiver for the NFL's Miami Dolphins, in Florida.
Frisella has since edited that portion out of the recording and tried to walk back his comments in two separate recordings.
A St. Louis native, Frisella co-founded Supplement Superstore and 1st Phorm nutritional supplements and created the popular "75 Hard" fitness challenge. His Instagram account has 3.3 million followers, and his "Real AF" podcast has millions of listeners. He has founded six businesses that generate over $200 million in annual revenue, according to one of his websites.
According to the company's website, 1st Phorm protein products are sold at about 100 retail locations in the St. Louis area in 30 different stores. Some of those major retailers -- including Schnucks, Dierbergs and QuikTrip -- did not immediately respond to questions about whether they planned to remove the products.
Frisella has not returned multiple requests for comment since Sunday.
The St. Louis and St. Louis County police chiefs condemned Frisella's rant by Sunday and said they would sever all ties with his fitness companies and donations. St. Louis County Executive Sam Page also condemned the comments and supported the chief's decision to cut ties. The St. Louis County police union sent out a letter supporting its female members.
Officers across the region expressed outrage at Frisella's comments and vowed to boycott his businesses.
"His supporters keep saying Frisella should be allowed to say what he wants on his podcast," St. Louis County Sgt. Emily Gilyon told the Post-Dispatch on Monday. "He absolutely is, but that's a two-way street. Others are also allowed to voice their opinions even if they are not in line with his views."
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