Tony Robbins accused of sexual misconduct and wrongdoing

May 17, 2019, 19:19 UTC

By Daniella Silva and Chelsea Damberg

Tony Robbins, a self-help guru, has been accused of making inappropriate sexual advances to his fans and staff, as well as to victims of abuse, in a survey released by BuzzFeed News on Friday.

BuzzFeed said his report resulted from an investigation based on undisclosed records, internal documents related to Robbins' work and a series of interviews with fans and insiders. The allegations included sexual misconduct or harassment that had occurred in the 1990s and early 2000s, before he was getting married to his second wife, as well as allegations that Robbins had sentenced victims of rape or domestic violence during their support sessions.

NBC News has not been able to talk to unidentified sources of BuzzFeed. The number of women with whom BuzzFeed spoke for his report was not clear.

Robbins vehemently denied these claims in a Medium website response on Friday, claiming in part that the media was publishing an "inaccurate, agenda-based version of the past, full of falsehoods".

"It's to personally denigrate me, my family, the work of my life and the efforts of the millions of people around the world who have followed this path with me over the past 40 years," wrote Robbins.

Robbins said the BuzzFeed News reporters had "dismissed and ignored factual accounts" and indicated that others had contacted him "to let us know that you had tried to manipulate their testimony and in some cases even ignored their lawyers when they reported inaccuracies and sub-characterizations of their clients' personal accounts at the hands of your journalists. "

The motivational speaker has a massive clientele around the world, a multi-billion dollar company and has been associated with famous celebrities and personalities such as Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, the Kardashians, Oprah Winfrey and Pitbull.

In a statement to NBC News, BuzzFeed said its reports were "based on footage of Mr. Robbins reprimanding victims of rape and domestic violence, as well as the testimony of former staff members and supporters who accused him of making inappropriate sexual advances ".

"It does not appear that Mr. Robbins read the article himself before publishing his open letter, which contains a number of statements that are patently false and defamatory both about our reports. and on the resulting article, "the statement said.

A BuzzFeed spokesman said that he denies Robbins' claims about their reporting, such as the rejection or ignorance of factual accounts.

Robbins had previously excused himself in April 2018 after disclosing a video telling him that the #MeToo movement was an excuse for some women to "gain importance" by "attacking and destroying someone". One of the others ".