Fitness influencer's gym accusation meets with brutal online response
A viral social media dispute has erupted after a fitness influencer claimed men in her gym were deliberately avoiding looking at her during a workout session. The situation escalated when one of the men featured in the background of her video issued a pointed public response.
The original accusation from Bali
Danica Kennedy, a 37-year-old influencer focusing on yoga, callisthenics and flexibility, shared footage from a gym in Canggu, Bali. The now-deleted video showed her performing an unconventional stretching movement that involved bending forward with her body practically folded in half while raising herself on her toes.
In the background, three men could occasionally be seen glancing briefly in her direction. Kennedy added text overlays to the footage stating: "POV: you're just trying to open your toes but the gym bros are confused." Further captions included "flabbergasted" and "side-eyes," suggesting she believed the men were deliberately not looking at her to make her feel uncomfortable.
When a commenter noted that nobody appeared to be looking at her, Kennedy responded: "That's my point. Trying too hard not to look. I could feel the awkwardness." She added: "Get me out of Canggu, the men are so b**chy."
The video goes viral and draws criticism
The footage quickly gained traction online, eventually catching the attention of Joey Swoll, an influencer known for calling out toxic gym behavior. Swoll described Kennedy's interpretation as "absolutely ridiculous," setting the stage for further developments.
One of the men visible in the background was identified as Matt Butterworth, an Australian callisthenics coach. He decided to address the situation directly through his own social media channels.
Matt Butterworth's detailed rebuttal
In a TikTok response, Butterworth explained his perspective on the incident. "So I was in the background of a video of a girl working out and she's zooming in on my face as I'm kind of minding my own business, kind of looking down," he began. "And supposedly I was side-eyeing her and intentionally not looking at her to make her feel uncomfortable because she was doing some alternative workout, for whatever reason."
Butterworth acknowledged that Kennedy might have genuinely felt "insecure" and "uncomfortable," describing these as "completely fair enough emotions" that many gym-goers experience. However, he offered two crucial counterpoints to her interpretation.
First, he noted that "a lot of videos you see online are completely done for the algorithm. They're completely done to get views so a lot of it can be completely fabricated."
Second, he addressed the broader issue of gym anxiety: "A lot of people feel the exact same way she may have actually felt and you need to realise that no one actually cares, or at least in 90% of the cases, [no one cares]."
Recalling the actual circumstances
Butterworth remembered the specific day he was filmed because he was wearing denim shorts and hadn't planned to visit the gym. "I was completely in my own world," he explained, noting he had been "in between calls" with his "brain all over the place."
He offered advice to those experiencing similar anxieties: "This is what people need to realise - if they're getting gym anxiety, or if they're on a night out, and they feel like people are judging them, 95% of the time, no one gives a f**k."
Butterworth continued: "People can create so many scenarios in their head and, even in the case that people were actually judging at a gym; you're at a gym, you're training, you're trying to better yourself, who gives an absolute f**k."
Final thoughts on validation and learning
The callisthenics coach concluded by stating he wouldn't create content purely for "validation" and expressed hope that Kennedy would "learn from this experience." The exchange highlights ongoing tensions around gym etiquette, social media behavior, and perceptions of attention in shared fitness spaces.
The incident has sparked broader conversations about how people interpret others' behavior in public spaces versus the reality of those individuals' actual thoughts and intentions. As gyms continue to be spaces where personal improvement intersects with social dynamics, such conflicts between perception and reality appear likely to persist in the digital age.
