Popular fitness and bodybuilding YouTuber Jeff Nippard has accused fellow fitness creator Mike Van Wyck of assault, after an on-camera bust-up between the pair.
A short clip of the incident made it to social media, showing Van Wyck grabbing Nippard by the throat and pushing him, sending the Canadian YouTuber to the ground some feet away.
The clip then ends, but the post suggests it was “not the end of the encounter.”
In case you missed it, Mike Van Wyck assaulted Jeff Nippard. This is not fake. Here's the original video.Word has it that this was not the end of the encounter.#massiveiron pic.twitter.com/tki16f3RS9
— MassiveIron (@massive_iron) October 21, 2024
Later on October 21, Nippard updated followers on his Instagram, explaining what happened, and claims there is CCTV footage from the gym to corroborate his version of events.
“Mike Van Wyck jabbed me in the throat twice in the middle of the gym and then shoved my camera man,” he said. “There is already a lie going around that Mike asked me to stay away from him, and that I didn’t listen, and approached him first. This is FALSE and @puremuscleandfitness has security footage to prove it. I think they should release it.
“As I was filming bicep curls for a YouTube short, Mike brushed by me and said ‘sup’. This was our first engagement that day. I chuckled.” Mike said ‘oh things are about to get real funny’ as he walked past me.
“I then asked him ‘what did you mean by that?’ and I made sure my camera man was filming in case he tried any funny business.” Nippard claims, “then he walked back toward me, he said ‘turn the camera off’ and immediately jabbed me in the throat and I fell onto the floor.”
Nippard says that after falling to the floor, Van Wyck instructed him to “never talk about him ever again.
“Then he jabbed me in the throat a second time. Then he turned to my videographer and pushed him against a cable machine. Then he walked away.”
The YouTuber, who has almost 6 million subscribers, said that the gym, Pure Muscle and Fitness, has camera footage that will prove this version of events, asking them to release it.
He also added that currently, the gym is still allowing Van Wyck to train clients there.
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Why did Van Wyck “attack” Jeff Nippard?
According to Nippard, he believes Van Wyck’s attack was unprovoked, and that he was simply not happy with a clip he posted disagreeing about “science-based training.”
“My opinion is that it was the result of anger brought on by the clip I posted yesterday responding to his question about science-based training,” he explained in his Instagram post. “Pretty wild stuff.”
Nippard’s clip responded to Van Wyck asking why those who believe in science-based training “look so mediocre, if you know so much?” Nippard explained that he had found success with bodybuilding through his science-based approach, and that it gave him confidence that he is doing the right things.
Van Wyck slammed for Jeff Nippard incident
Van Wyck is also a YouTube creator, with over 100,000 subscribers on his channel. He has yet to respond publicly about the altercation with Nippard.
However, commenters on his Instagram page are calling him out for his “assault.”
“Your assault on Nippard proves he was right,” one comment with over 15,000 likes says. Another added: “This the guy who ‘roid raged’ and assaulted Jeff Nippard?”
On X/Twitter, bodybuilder Swolecialist said: “Mike Van Wyck is just another emotional and insecure b**tard.”
I owe Jeff and other nice, thoughtful and cheerful people like him my growing love for lifting. It’s people like Mike that scare people from it, cause they make regular people think everyone involved in the sport is like that.
— Diego Díaz (@DiegoDiazBilbao) October 21, 2024
Jeff Nippard underwent a CT scan and said he is “okay”.
YouTuber Antoine Vaillant has provided an update from the gym on Instagram, claiming that the gym owner “told Mike to finish his client and leave the gym today at around noon. He was out at around 1pm and is not allowed back at @puremuscleandfitness as of now.”