Twitch streamer Jessica49 has apologized for accusing a man of “sexualizing” her at the gym in a TikTok video that took social media by storm and sparked backlash against her.
In late January, a clip from Jessica49’s Twitch stream went viral, which showed the influencer working out in a gym.
During her workout, Jessica criticized a man standing some ways behind her, accusing him of “sexualizing” her after he attempted to help her put plates on a bar she was using for hip thrusts.
Her video went viral after she was called out by fitness influencer Joey Swoll, who took issue with Jessica for calling the man a “stupid f*cking piece of f*cking sh*t,” arguing that he was likely simply trying to help her put the heavy plates on the deadlift bar.
“Any experienced lifter knows that when you have a barbell on the ground… it’s very difficult to put plates on,” Swoll said. “He sees that you struggled, being an experienced lifter he comes over and tries to help you, ’cause that’s what kind people do.”
Women are harassed in gyms and it needs to stop, but you are not one of them. An act of kindness or a glance does not make you a victim. pic.twitter.com/34g9265KXb
— Joey Swoll (@TheJoeySwoll) January 21, 2023
A few days after the video went viral, Jessica published a statement to Twitlonger apologizing to the man and to anyone she offended with her words during the stream, calling the matter a “gross mistake.”
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Jessica49 apologizes for “gross mistake” after gym video sparks backlash
“I want to apologize sincerely to the man at the gym where this all started,” she wrote. “He didn’t do anything wrong to me and I blew our interaction out of proportion.”
“After reading literally thousands of comments about me, the situation and the man in question, it truly opened my eyes to how damaging this could have been for him,” she continued. “Men and women deal with very different problems in the realm of the opposite sex and after looking through the lens of an innocent man put in a situation like that. It honestly made me feel sick to my stomach with guilt.”
My Gross Mistake: Addressing The Gym VideoRead: https://t.co/MMb4aAM4Ap
— Jessica49 (@jessica49tv) January 24, 2023
Jessica went on to say that she was “extremely immature” for treating the bystander that way and expressed a desire to “never hurt anyone ever again in this way.”
The influencer also added that she would be removing the video from all her social platforms, but says her Twitlonger apology “isn’t going anywhere.”
Thus far, Joey Swoll has yet to respond to Jessica’s statement, but we’ll be sure to keep you updated as soon as he does right here on Dexerto.
