Planet Fitness has seen its valuation tumble in the wake of controversy surrounding its policy that allows members to use the locker room that corresponds with their gender identity.
An Alaska woman had her membership revoked earlier this month after she complained about seeing a man shaving in the women’s locker room, which has led many to speculate that the fitness chain may be experiencing its own ‘get woke, go broke’ moment à la Bud Light.
On Tuesday’s show, Megyn was joined by Emily Jashinsky, culture editor at The Federalist, and Eliana Johnson, co-host of Ink-Stained Wretches, to discuss the situation and why Planet Fitness customers must make their voices heard.
[Editor’s Note: You can learn more about Megyn’s position on preferred pronouns here.]
The Incident
Planet Fitness patron Patricia Silva said she had her membership revoked earlier this month after she confronted a person she identified as “a man with a penis” who was shaving his facial hair in a sink in the women’s locker room at the gym’s Fairbanks, Alaska, location.
“I just came out of Planet Fitness, and there is a man shaving in the women’s bathroom,” Silva explained in one of several videos she posted about the incident. “I realize he wants to be a woman… I love him in Christ… but I’m not comfortable with him shaving in my bathroom.”
She went on to share that there was also a young woman in the changing area who “could have been 12 years old… in a towel kind of freaked out that there’s a man shaving in her locker room.” When she approached him, Silva said the man told her he was “queer LGB” and, therefore, “had a right to be there.”
Silva took a picture of the individual because she “felt that I was in an unsafe space.” While that is the act that ultimately got her suspended, the chain’s chief corporate affairs officer McCall Gosselin stood by the locker room policy in a statement to Fox News Digital:
“As the home of the Judgement Free Zone, Planet Fitness is committed to creating an inclusive environment. Our gender identity non-discrimination policy, states that members and guests may use the gym facilities that best align with their sincere, self-reported gender identity. The member who posted on social media violated our mobile device policy that prohibits taking photos of individuals in the locker room, which resulted in their membership being terminated.”
Follow-up reporting from Libs of TikTok confirmed the individual, who reportedly identifies as trans, is still using the women’s room.
In Jashinsky’s view, Silva behaved as any normal person would. “This is how most people with common sense would react to exactly that situation,” she said. “And what I find very interesting about this particular story is that it’s such a clear glimpse at what the stakes are and what the reality is… This is not Williamsburg, Brooklyn; this is Alaska.”
That reality, she explained, is “so much worse” than any defender of these ‘inclusion’ policies are willing to admit. “It’s not just an occasional very kind and decent person, you know, nervously going into a stall doing their business,” she noted. “It’s men and women mingling together where… women are in really vulnerable positions and actual men with varying motivations… are in very, very close proximity to them.”
‘F–ck Planet Fitness’
As the internet has likened the incident to Bud Light’s ill-fated partnership with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney, investors apparently took notice. The chain saw its valuation plummet some $400 million – from $5.3 billion to $4.9 billion – in the days following Silva’s suspension.
Johnson believes that drop will only continue as customers make their voices heard. “If it were me, I would be canceling my membership and I have a feeling that – to the extent Planet Fitness doesn’t reverse course here – it will go the way of Bud Light,” she explained. “We’re seeing there’s a real market revolt against these kinds of policies… [because] the average gym goer doesn’t like this kind of thing. The market will respond and solve for it.”
Ultimately, Megyn said Planet Fitness needs to “fall on their sword” ASAP. “I don’t want to see him when I’m in there taking off my clothes so I can go work out, and I don’t want him to see me,” she concluded. “There’s a men’s room for a reason… so eff this guy and eff Planet Fitness.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Jashinsky and Johnson by tuning in to episode 750 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.