Buzzfeed Tries to Take Down Tony Robbins, But The Internet Isn’t Buying It
By Michael Levin
At six foot seven inches in height and having been in the public eye for decades, Tony Robbins is an irresistible target to people who like to take aim at celebrities and successful people and seek to destroy their reputations.
And here we go again.
Buzzfeed, that paragon of journalistic integrity, saw fit to publish a piece attacking Robbins. Why? Because some people just can’t stand it when other people do well.
Unfortunately for Buzzfeed and its author, whose writing credits include taking seriously the discredited Christopher Steele, the Internet is rallying to Robbins’ defense. People aren’t buying the flimsy, frothy accusations. That’s because millions of people have been to Robbins events, have bought his knowledge products, and understand who he is and what he stands for.
And an attempted takedown in sleazy, slimy Buzzfeed? Sorry. No sale.
As a professional ghostwriter, I’ve had the privilege of working for more than a decade with individuals who work extremely closely, on a day-to-day basis, with Robbins. I can, therefore, assert with the certainty of an insider that Robbins has never done any of the sorts of inappropriate things of which the article accuses him.
Never has. Not his style.
America has a weird love-hate relationship with success and celebrity.
It’s the dream of seemingly everyone these days not just to become successful, a celebrity, but even, dare I say it, a star. All too many of us live our lives in order to post about ourselves to receive “likes,” instead of stopping and thinking, what do we really like, or what do we really want for ourselves.
And then when someone else does become successful, we react like scorpions in a battle, doing everything we can to pull that successful person back down to ground level.
And so it is with Tony Robbins. He made it out of near-poverty, and he has helped millions of people improve their personal lives, their financial lives, their careers, and their health. In so doing, he has become extremely wealthy. Therefore, he must be punished. And in today’s virtue-signaling, witch-burning culture, the easiest way to destroy another human being is to accuse him of inappropriate behavior.
The article would be ludicrous if it were not so damaging. It has an overheated, breathless intensity to it, as if the authors have just learned of a whole series of facts that point to the inevitable conclusion: Robbins is no good. Here are some examples.
Robbins is criticized because his organization has “strict confidentiality agreements.” Seriously? So does pretty much every company in America. Mine does. It’s normal.
The article states that the rooms in which Robbins events are held are kept chilly. So what? It’s just a way to keep people from nodding off. Are we expected to somehow conclude that if a room is cold, the speaker is evil?
The authors claim that Robbins’ events last for many hours. Yes, because Robbins enjoys teaching, and has a genuine love for people. I’ve heard this from the people who know him the best. He has an energy level absolutely off the charts. He’s the Energizer Bunny of motivation. He has no quit in him.
For example, back in 2000, I took his sales training one-day class, Mastering Influence, at Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles. He was supposed to teach for eight hours. Instead, he taught for 13. No one in the sold-out audience left early. Why would you? The material was solid gold.
I’ve attended a dozen of his events over the years. It isn’t est, where people would question you if you wanted to go to the bathroom. At Robbins’ events, if you want to get out of your seat, have a stretch, make a phone call, go pee, or get a bite to eat, or just take a break, no one will bother you. Go do what you need to do. Nobody cares.
One of the most ludicrous sentences in the article states that Robbins “encourages attendees to walk on hot coals.” Of course he does. That’s one of the highlights of the Unleash The Power Within the four-day event, which I’ve attended with my mother and my daughter. The idea is to demonstrate, rather dramatically, that you are capable of things you never imagined you could accomplish.
And then, of course, Robbins gets slammed when an individual gets a burn on her foot. Of course, the biased news media, which hates famous and successful people almost as much as the folks at Buzzfeed, never tells the whole story. So I will. The woman involved ignored the repeated instructions to keep walking until you get to the other side of the coals, which thousands of other people heard and adhered to. Instead, she stopped on the hot coals…in order to take a selfie. And of course, Robbins took the blaming and the shaming.
One of Robbins’ primary techniques for helping people to transform their lives is to identify the patterns they live by and then interrupt those patterns, thus creating the opportunity for change and growth. If you go to one of his events, you will see almost immediately that he will say or do anything in order to interrupt someone’s pattern. If you have no sense of humor, here’s a suggestion: keep your hand down. Enjoy the show. But don’t participate, because these are the rules of the road.
He’s not malicious. Anyone with a brain in his or her head can tell that he’s coming from love and just wants to see people rethink the way they unconsciously live their lives. Is some of what he says occasionally inappropriate for children? Of course. It’s a program for adults. Does he mean any harm? Come on. Get real.
Why am I so personally incensed by the bullcrap in Buzzfeed? It’s because of what Robbins has done for me. I was first exposed to his teachings all the way back in 1995, with a friend lent me her set of Robbins’ Personal Power cassette tapes. It introduced me to a way of thinking about life — about my past, and about my future in ways that I never before imagined.
I’ve taught many of those same lessons to my children over the years. They, and I, are better for Robbins’ ideas. I’ve learned from Robbins about sales, time management, relationships, health, success, even weight loss. I consider him one of the greatest teachers alive.
My Mom had an even better way to describe Robbins, after attending three hours of an Unleash The Power Within event: “He is a magician with people.”
My mother always told me, “Consider the source.” If there were any truth to the accusations in this article, why couldn’t its authors find a more credible place to publish than Buzzfeed? Maybe it’s because even in an era of declining, or even nonexistent journalistic standards, no one else would touch these baseless allegations, even with the proverbial 10-foot pole.
Robbins has always taught that “success leaves clues.” Success, alas, also spawns haters, cowards fueled by the courage of the keyboard, maybe looking for a quick payoff. To them I say, keep your dirty hands off Tony Robbins. He’s one of the good guys. By making these kinds of claims, you only reduce the credibility of people who’ve experienced real harassment. And there is nothing respectable about that.
