Woman responds after Joey Swoll slammed her behavior at the gym and said she should be kicked out

A woman has replied after Joey Swoll called her a "gym Karen" after she commented on another gym goer.

For anyone unaware, Swoll has amassed an enormous following on social media by critiquing other people's gym etiquette.

Most of the time he seems to hit the nail on the head by calling out people who are disturbing others.

But it seems that one of his more recent videos hasn't gone down well with one woman, who has now clapped back.

Joey Swoll calls out bad gym behavior. Credit: Mike Harrington/Getty

In one of his latest videos, Swoll responded to TikTok user “Victoria Haveasecret,” after she shared footage labeling another gym-goer a "gym Karen". Victoria’s video showed a woman from a nearby exercise class politely asking her to adjust her camera angle while filming, citing privacy concerns for class participants.

“I know you’re allowed to film in the gym, so if you can just angle the camera, that’d be great,” the woman said in the clip. Victoria, who is based in Pennsylvania, USA, captioned the video: "Karen told the instructor I was still recording."

Swoll was quick to defend the woman’s actions. In his response video, he captioned it: “The only ‘gym Karen’ in this video is YOU!”

He elaborated further: “So you call this woman a gym Karen for what? Because her and the other ladies in that class don’t want to be in the background of your video? And she asked you very politely to simply change the angle of your camera? Which, according to the rules of [this specific gym] LA Fitness, she has every right to do,” he said.

Swoll continued: “Just because you’re comfortable with filming yourself to post on social media doesn’t mean everyone else is too. The next time someone asks you to change the angle of your camera because they don’t want to be in your video, be kind and do it.

"Don’t post a video calling them a ‘Gym Karen,’ trying to make yourself out to be a victim for likes and attention on social media. I hope LA Fitness sees this and kicks your a** out. You need to do better; mind your own business.”

Swoll also shared a screenshot of LA Fitness’s policy on filming, which states that recording individuals without their consent may result in the termination of membership and, in some cases, law enforcement involvement.

Following the backlash, Victoria posted a follow-up video, calling the incident a “misunderstanding.”

“I want to say it was a big misunderstanding,” she explained. “He said that I was trying to call out the instructor and say that she was a ‘Karen’; that’s not the situation at all. The instructor was real nice. All she said was that she wanted me to redirect my camera, and I just turned it off completely.”

Victoria also clarified that her "gym Karen" remark was directed at another individual. “I did try to circle the lady in the blue in the background of the video - she was being mean to me prior. And I was trying to call her a ‘Karen.’ But I just want to say the instructor was real nice, and I was not trying to call her that.”

Featured image credit: Mike Harrington/Getty