Just days before resigning from his position as CEO of CrossFit, Greg Glassman made some inconceivable remarks about the late George Floyd on a phone call with a gym owner in Minneapolis, where the man was killed by police. On Tuesday (June 9th), Glassman officially announced his resignation after some thoughtless tweets about Floyd, in which he’d mocked the gravity and pervasiveness of police brutality and systemic racism against Black people in America, sparked immense outrage. Glassman acknowledged that his remarks had “created a rift in the CrossFit community and unintentionally hurt many of its members” and decided to step down as CEO.

Ethan Miller/Getty Images

However, it turns out that he’d spewed even more ignorance about Floyd’s murder on a phone call with a Minneapolis gym owner just days prior to his resignation. The owner had asked Glassman why the company had yet to make a statement on Floyd’s death. “We’re not mourning for George Floyd,” he responded. “I don’t think me or any of my staff are. Can you tell me why I should mourn for him?”

“Now, I gotta say something or I’m a f*cking racist, and now this gym is gonna look like it’s reparations or something,” he said, referring to the plans he’d already had to build CrossFit gyms in “blighted neighbourhoods” free of charge, prior to the protests. When asked how he felt about these protests, he responded, “I love the rebuilding, I love the helping. I’d like to make an anonymous donation to the rebuild. But I don’t want any of it going to or supporting anything that looks like pro-rioting.”

He then comments on Floyd’s death, insisting that it was not a crime motivated by racism. “What is the indication that this thing had anything to do with race?” he asks. “I think we can make this short, pray, there is none, because it had nothing to do with race.”

CrossFit CEO and co-founder, Greg Glassman, officially resigned this week, after he was widely criticized for making some insensitive comments about George Floyd and the coronavirus pandemic. His decision came after he realized his words had "created a rift in the CrossFit community and unintentionally hurt many of its members."

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

"Those who know me know that my sole issue is the chronic disease epidemic," Glassman said in a statement released on Tuesday (June 9th). "I know that CrossFit is the solution to this epidemic and that CrossFit HQ and its staff serve as the stewards of CrossFit affiliates worldwide. I cannot let my behavior stand in the way of HQ's or affiliates' missions."

On Saturday, after the company had already come under fire for their failure to voice their solidarity with the Black community amid the outbreak of protests against police brutality and systemic racism, Glassman made an odd joke on Twitter about George Floyd, whose murder by police served as the catalyst for said protests.

In response to a tweet from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation that read, "racism and discrimination are critical public health issues that demand an urgent response," Glassman wrote, "It's FLOYD-19." He appeared to be mocking this notion that racism is an epidemic much like coronavirus, all the while making light of Floyd's tragic death.

George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis police about two weeks ago and his death has sparked protests all across the United States. It is clear that people want real change and it seems like the demonstrations have been working. While this may be true, there are still many out there who disagree with the protests and think the George Floyd response has been overblown. CrossFit CEO Greg Glassman seems to follow this particular line of thinking as recently, he dismissed the Floyd dialog as "FLOYD-19."

Of course, Glassman was saying this in reference to COVID-19. The CrossFit CEO thinks that COVID-19 has been overblown by the media and by saying "FLOYD-19," he is taking yet another dismissive tone. These comments landed Glassman in quite a bit of hot water and recently, Reebok revealed that it would be withdrawing its sponsorship of future CrossFit events.