ST. LOUIS 鈥 Police here are cutting ties with a wealthy fitness mogul after an obscenity-filled podcast rant in which he said women should not be cops and that men could 鈥渆nd their (expletive) life鈥 if the female officers weren鈥檛 armed with guns and badges.
Andy Frisella, a St. Louis native and police donor who has found immense success in the fitness industry, voiced those opinions in an episode of his 鈥淩eal AF鈥 podcast on Thursday, which also happened to be National Police Woman鈥檚 Day. The comments came as he discussed last weekend鈥檚 traffic stop of Tyreek Hill, a wide receiver for the NFL鈥檚 Miami Dolphins, in Florida.
鈥淓specially when you know that if that person didn鈥檛 have a badge or a gun, you could punch a hole through their (expletive) face and end their (expletive) life,鈥 he said while talking about how he felt female officers were always difficult to interact with.
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The fallout was swift. St. Louis and St. Louis County police chiefs condemned Frisella鈥檚 rant by Sunday and said they would sever all ties with his fitness companies and donations. St. Louis County Executive Sam Page also publicly condemned the comments and supported the chief鈥檚 decision to cut ties.
鈥淗is statements crossed far over the line from criticism to sharing violent fantasies of killing policewomen,鈥 St. Louis County police union President Derek Machens wrote in a letter to members on Saturday.
In a 12-minute apology recording Frisella posted on Saturday, he said he regretted the comments. He said he edited them out of the podcast not because of 鈥渢he heat鈥 he received but because he didn鈥檛 want people to think it was acceptable to talk about and behave that way toward police.
鈥淚鈥檓 embarrassed that I embarrassed my friends and my family and my business partners and especially my employees who work extra hard to do the best job they can,鈥 Frisella said, 鈥淭hey have nothing to do with what I say. And it鈥檚 just embarrassing, and it鈥檚 disappointing, and it hurts my heart that I鈥檝e let so many of you guys down.鈥
The fitness entrepreneur could not be reached for comment Sunday.
Frisella is a St. Louis native who co-founded Supplement Superstore and 1st Phorm nutritional supplements and 鈥渉as turned himself into a giant in the entrepreneurial world,鈥 according to a about his $100,000 donation to Blues game-night workers during the pandemic.
He created the popular 鈥75 Hard鈥 fitness challenge and has founded six businesses that generate over $200 million in annual revenue, according to one of his websites. His Instagram account has more than 3.3 million followers, and his 鈥淩eal AF鈥 podcast also has millions of listeners.
In one of his two follow-up recordings about Thursday鈥檚 comments, Frisella pointed out that he hosts charity events for police and has given away 鈥渃ollectively, millions of dollars, over the course of our business life鈥 to law enforcement.
A recorded clip of his deleted comments was widely circulated among police officers this weekend. In it, Frisella said a lot of police officers, 鈥渆specially women officers,鈥 try to emasculate men.
鈥淭he quickest way to escalate a situation is to do that to a grown man, you know,鈥 he says to Davione Johnson, who records the podcast with Frisella. 鈥淭hat is why, in my opinion, women shouldn鈥檛 be in the (expletive) field and police officers. I just don鈥檛 think they should be.鈥
He goes on to say he could end their lives if they weren鈥檛 armed.
Sgt. Jennifer Williams retired last June and has a daughter on the St. Louis County police force. She told the Post-Dispatch on Sunday that she felt his apology was all about a threat to his business and the bottom line 鈥 and she was thankful police leadership took a stand.
鈥淭his is about finances,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not about his beliefs. He thought what he said originally was fine. He then doubles down in the second episode, for the most part, saying the same things.鈥
Machens, the union president, wrote to officers that while Frisella鈥檚 financial contributions to law enforcement were appreciated, they 鈥渃annot come at the expense of our integrity, our morals, and the respect owed to not only our women officers, but all the members of our police family.鈥
A day after Machens sent out his letter, St. Louis County police Chief Kenneth Gregory sent an all-staff email calling Frisella鈥檚 comments 鈥渉ateful.鈥 The St. Louis County police chief said that even though Frisella tried to retract them, the department is severing its relationship with him.
鈥淓ffective immediately, we will no longer be providing services to 1st Phorm via secondary employment, nor receiving donations of any kind or services from them through fitness and nutrition classes,鈥 Gregory wrote. 鈥淭he words used by Mr. Frisella in his rant were violent and unacceptable. We all stand together and will not tolerate such hate against our sisters in uniform.鈥
Frisella鈥檚 fitness company, , provided four free classes to county police staff members in 2023 and 2024, said Sgt. Tracy Panus. She confirmed the department has no ongoing contracts with Frisella鈥檚 companies.
Echoing Gregory, St. Louis police Chief Robert Tracy said in a statement that his department is severing ties with Frisella. He said female officers are at the core of the agency.
鈥淔emale police officers are valued and respected members of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department,鈥 Tracy said. 鈥淓ach day, they risk their lives in service to the city of St. Louis. His overall and disparaging comments do not reflect our views or core values and have no place in the SLMPD.鈥
Joe Patterson, executive director of the county鈥檚 police union, thanked department leadership on Sunday for taking a stand.
鈥淎t a time when hundreds and hundreds of police officer vacancies currently exist in our region, women represent the fastest growing demographic of new police officers,鈥 he wrote in a statement. 鈥淐urrent and future women police officers must know we wholeheartedly support and value their commitment in helping to secure the public safety of our region.鈥
Women make up between 15% and 16% of both departments.
Panus on Monday said 123 of the county department's 812 officers are women. Mitch McCoy, spokesperson for St. Louis police, on Monday said the city department has 883 officers and about 142 of them are women. Both agencies have also struggled for years to recruit and retain officers.
The city鈥檚 police union did not respond to a request for comment.
Frisella first addressed the criticism on Saturday in a 20-minute that had about 100,000 views as of Sunday afternoon. He walked back his points about women in policing and 鈥渢ook responsibility鈥 for generalizing, without outright apologizing.
鈥淲hat I really mean is that certain women shouldn鈥檛 be police officers, and certain men shouldn鈥檛 be police officers,鈥 Frisella said. 鈥淎nd if we鈥檙e going to have women be police officers, they should be capable. They should be emotionally stable.鈥
He said the same goes for male officers.
Frisella then posted a 12-minute audio recording where he apologized. He said he made the comments about women because he had gotten worked up thinking about a traffic stop about a decade ago when two female officers had him 鈥渇ace down on the side of the highway in a suit being berated.鈥 He said a male officer came along, resolved the issue and everyone went on their way.
Williams said something doesn鈥檛 sit right with her about his story.
鈥淚 can tell you, in my 33 years of law enforcement, that if I had someone out on the ground face down, they鈥檙e going with me,鈥 she said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a reason they鈥檙e going with me. And I don鈥檛 know of a situation where another officer is going to pull up and go, 鈥楬ey, you鈥檙e going to have to let him go.鈥欌
In the third audio recording, Frisella said his comment was the wrong thing to say.
鈥淚 was trying to make the point that women escalate situations sometimes because they are armed, and men do the same,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t was an unfair comment to me to single out women. ... That鈥檚 not what I meant to say. It鈥檚 not what I feel in my heart.鈥
Editor's note: This story was updated Monday with the number of female officers in the county and city police departments.