Thelife- Business Insider obtained a 50-minute audio clip in which two people — a male and a female — can be heard talking. The woman identified herself to Business Insider as Lisa Lugo, a former
CrossFit employee. Three sources say the male voice in the video is Glassman's. - In the clip, the man can be heard saying to Lugo, "It's enough for me to slit your f-----g throat."
- The man can also be heard using the N-word on one occasion.
- More than 30 former CrossFit employees, current and former affiliate gym owners, and athletes told Business Insider that the company culture demeaned women, and was ruled by fear of Glassman.
- Are you a former or current CrossFit employee, gym owner, or athlete with a story to share? Email the reporters at kwarren@businessinsider.com or glandsverk@businessinsider.com.
In a 50-minute audio clip obtained by Business Insider, a man alleged to be CrossFit owner and former CEO
The new allegations against Glassman come after a tumultuous month for CrossFit and its owner.
Glassman stepped down as CEO of the company on June 9 after a controversial tweet about George Floyd. In the weeks following, more than 30 insiders who worked at or with CrossFit spoke to Business Insider about what they said were patterns of sexism and misogyny at the company. Many of them said a misogynistic culture was fostered by Glassman himself. On June 24, CrossFit announced that Glassman would be selling the company to affiliate gym owner Eric Roza.
The woman heard in the audio clip identified herself to Business Insider as Lisa Lugo, a former CrossFit employee who said she was involved in a relationship with Glassman between approximately 2009 and 2014. Three sources allege the male voice in the video is Glassman's.
In the clip, which Lugo says was taken in a hotel room at a corporate event in Big Sky, Montana, in August 2011, the man alleged to be Glassman can be heard saying to her, "You told me you're tired of my lies. It's enough for me to slit your fucking throat, is the truth."
According to Lugo, she had recently discovered Glassman was involved in a sexual relationship with another woman and she was angry about it. When reached by phone, Glassman told Business Insider he was at the 2011 event and in an "off again, on again" relationship with Lugo at the time.
When Lugo confronted Glassman about what she believed to be another relationship, he began to "destroy" the hotel room they were sharing at Big Sky Resort, she alleged.
In the clip, the man admits to breaking a lamp off the wall of the room. A spokesperson for Big Sky Resort told Business Insider the hotel no longer had records from 2011 that would show any reported damage to a room.
Later in the audio, the man tells Lugo that she is a "pathological fucking liar," a "piece of shit," and an "evil whore."
At one point, the man — alleged to be Glassman — tells Lugo that she has been "betraying him endlessly" with two men and "that other n----r."
Multiple times throughout the audio, Lugo can be heard urging the man to go to bed, noting that the event is "about all the affiliates that are here, and it's about the Reebok crew that's here." Reebok, the company's biggest sponsor, signed a 10-year partnership with CrossFit in 2011. (After Glassman's June 6 tweet about George Floyd, Reebok said it would not be renewing its relationship with CrossFit after 2020.)
When the man offers to go sleep somewhere else for the night, Lugo says, "No. Can I? Can I just go downstairs?"
The man responds: "Careful what you do right now. It could just go horrible. I fucking need you and I get nothing. I have nothing."
In the call with Business Insider, Glassman disputed that the two had shared a room, though he said their paths might have crossed in one of the rooms. He said he did not recall making the comments described in the audio. A representative for CrossFit declined to comment on the alleged statements.
Read the full story here.
Read Business Insider's investigation on CrossFit's allegedly toxic workplace here.
Are you a former or current CrossFit employee, gym owner, or athlete with a story to share? Email the reporters at kwarren@businessinsider.com or glandsverk@businessinsider.com.