A viral gym video has triggered a storm of backlash online, as fitness influencer Joey Swoll blasted a fitness content creator for what he called “entitled” behaviour after she confronted another woman for “photobombing” her workout footage.
The clip, originally posted to TikTok on September 26 by Jennifer (@jenniferrpicone), shows her lifting weights in front of a camera while another woman stretches in the background, looking at herself in the mirror before starting her set.
Jennifer abruptly turns to her and asks: “Why are you standing there?”
“Why do you care?” the gymgoer replies.
“Because you’re annoying me,” Jennifer fires back, later adding: “Don’t work out next to me.”
She doubled down in the video’s text overlay, calling it “Gym etiquette lesson #47: Don’t photobomb the content creator.”
The reaction was immediate and brutal. One commenter wrote: “Gym etiquette #1: film yourself at home if you don’t want others on cam.” Another added: “It’s the way she never not even once looked your direction til you accosted her.” A third user quipped: “You forgot gym etiquette #1: BE RESPECTFUL.”
Calls for tougher measures flooded in too. “Who else wants to go workout right beside her during her entire workout tomorrow? Please someone do this for all of us,” one person suggested. Another pushed: “They need to just ban filming in gyms.”
While the original TikTok drew around 270,000 views, a repost on X racked up 8.5 million. Many users tagged Joey Swoll — the self-proclaimed “CEO of Gym Positivity” with more than 8 million TikTok followers — who has made a career out of shaming so-called “gym Karens” and influencers who weaponize their cameras.
Swoll didn’t hold back – even taking a break from his vacation to call out the “gymfluencer’s” behaviour.
He described Jennifer’s comments as “the most ridiculous thing [he’s] ever heard”, before telling her: “The worst part is, you follow me! You should know better! You have no right to tell anybody in the gym – video or not – where they can stand.”
Swoll finished with some advice for Jennifer, telling her: “Build a home gym. Train there.”
Over on X, Swoll responded to another fan, writing: “You are 100% correct she should be banned from the gym for this nonsense!” he posted. “I’m on vacation in Croatia but I’m gonna make the time to find this gym and handle this. Thank you everyone for tagging me and sending me this.” Less than an hour later he followed up: “Already found the gym and city.”
He also went further in a direct response, slamming Jennifer’s complaint as “the most ridiculous thing” he’s ever heard. “You think you have the right to tell her she’s annoying you? Seriously?” he said, urging her to “build a home gym” if she wanted complete control of her environment.
The controversy has reignited the debate over “ragebait” — content deliberately designed to provoke anger and fuel engagement. Several of Jennifer’s other videos reportedly feature similar “photobombing” scenarios, leading some to question whether the confrontation was staged to go viral or if the situation is something that she is consciously orchestrating.
Jennifer herself hasn’t addressed the backlash head-on, but posted a new clip on Sept. 28 with the text: “Haters gonna hate so you just keep your chin up.”
With Swoll now weighing in and thousands calling for action, we’ll have to wait and see if this is yet another win for Swoll…
Featured image credit: TikTok/@JoeySwoll/@jenniferrpicone (Screenshot)
