Jillian Michaels tells a body positive activist that Big Food is literally buying off dietitian influencers to say “ditch the diet” and eat whatever you want.
What happens next is a textbook example of Stockholm syndrome:
MICHAELS: “Can I give you some statistics?”
ACTIVIST: “Please, please, please.”
MICHAELS: “Okay. So Washington Post analyzed more than 6,000 social media posts by 68 registered dietitians with a combined reach of over 9 million followers. 40% of them were using the anti-diet language. Like food freedom, no food rules, ditch the diet, healthy at any size, so on and so forth, very often not disclosing the fact that they were paid by the big food companies.”
ACTIVIST: “Okay.”
MICHAELS: “So they’re basically going after the intuitive eating dietitians. I can give you Abby Sharp.”
ACTIVIST: “That’s okay, though… The body positive movement is really for us. That is not even anywhere we need to equate into it.”
MICHAELS: “It really is when they’re using your movement.”
ACTIVIST: “I’m going to say this clearly… I don’t care who uses my f*cking movement. I want the movement to be there, and that right there, they can take it. It’s marketing and sales 101. Of course they’re going to use the f*cking movement.”
MICHAELS: “But then why can’t you guys say you don’t get to co-opt our movement?”
ACTIVIST: “That’s not for me to do. I don’t care about that. The thing is, we don’t care.”
MICHAELS: “I think you should.”
ACTIVIST: “But it’s not about we should. We are doing what we’re doing because this is our family, this is our world. It doesn’t matter…. The thing is, WE DON’T CARE.”
Michaels just explained how Big Food buys off influencers to keep people fat. And she still thinks Michaels is the enemy.