Tony Robbins Reportedly Forces Followers to Drink Mysterious Brown Liquid as Punishment
A new chapter in BuzzFeed’s ongoing investigation into Tony Robbins, released today, identifies another way that the self-help guru allegedly berates, bullies, and belittles participants. This report says that people who fail at tasks during his events are called onstage and made to drink “an unidentified mixture designed to have a lasting effect for several hours.”
It’s brown. It’s referred to as a “gross shot.” And the BuzzFeed News report quotes a former staffer who says that the whole situation is designed so that people believe the mixture contains laxatives. The same people who signed up to “unleash the power within,” and “achieve your dreams and start living at the next level,” according to the sell on his website.
Robbins’ team, according to the report, says that the shot is just pickle juice, apple juice, lemon juice, tomato juice, and a dash of tabasco, and lawyers say “no formal report or complaint was ever made” about it, although participants who downed it are said to have thrown up.
Robbins has denied allegations of public shaming, and in an open letter to BuzzFeed, points out that his “open-classroom therapeutic methods are not for everyone.” Other reports say that participants who fail at tasks are dubbed “losers,” complete with “L” stickers on their heads and the song “Loser” by Beck playing on speakers. Those are the people made to come onstage to down the shot.
Prior BuzzFeed reports have investigated allegations of Robbins’ sexual misconduct, using racial slurs, berating abuse victims, and using potentially dangerous techniques in an effort for them to overcome past problems. “Some long-term staffers, including Robbins’ former director of security Gary King, who spoke exclusively to BuzzFeed News,” an earlier report reads, “said they were deeply troubled by the psychological impact of his methods on vulnerable audience members.”
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