ST. LOUIS – Two of the region’s largest police departments have cut ties with St. Louis businessman Andy Frisella after he made disparaging remarks about female police officers during an expletive-laden rant on his podcast.
The statements were made on the September 12 episode of Frisella’s podcast, “Real AF,” while he and on-air cohort Davione Johnson were discussing the fallout from a traffic stop involving football player Tyreek Hill of the Miami Dolphins.
Frisella, creator of the 75 Hard fitness challenge and co-founder of Supplement Superstore and 1st Phorm, told Johnson that a lot of officers have a power trip and then he singled out women.
“…There’s a lot of police officers—to be completely honest, especially women police officers—who f—— try to emasculate men. They try to make men feel like they’re being dominated or they’re being, you know, that they have power over them. And, bro, the quickest way to escalate a situation is to do that to a grown man, you know?” Frisella said.
“And that’s why we, you know, that’s why in my opinion, women shouldn’t be in the f—— field and police officers. I just don’t think they should be,” he continued.
“Every woman cop I’ve ever dealt with, every single f—— one that I’ve ever been pulled over by, tried to make me feel like a f—— b—-. No, that’s not a way to deescalate a situation. Especially when you know that if that person didn’t have a badge or a gun, you could punch a hole through their f—— face and end their f—— life.”
Following online blowback, Frisella addressed the matter Saturday during a Q&A session. After stating that he and his companies are big supporters of law enforcement and put on multiple charitable events for local law enforcement, Frisella said people he knew in law enforcement had taken umbrage with his comments.
“I had a couple of women here in St. Louis that were upset with me, that I know, that are police officers. And they were like, ‘Andy, I love you, dude, but what the f— is this?’” Frisella said.
He explained that he tends to generalize when speaking and attempted to clarify his remarks by saying that “certain women and certain men shouldn’t be police officers,” adding that women who choose to be cops should be “capable, they should be emotionally stable, they should be able to deescalate situations, and they shouldn’t take advantages of opportunities where men are emasculated because they’re in a situation with a gun and a badge. And that goes for men, too.”
Frisella proclaimed there are “positions in society that are better suited for men and positions in society that are better suited for women” and went on to cite anecdotal evidence of having more favorable personal interactions with male officers than female officers.
Frisella claimed to be the only person on the internet to say police officers should be paid more.
“I can understand why someone would be upset with that. That wasn’t the intent of my comment, and I did overgeneralize, and I take responsibility for it,” he said. “I’m a big boy. I can handle the criticism. At the end of the day, I love you guys, I appreciate you guys, and I have physically gone to battle for women cops in this city.”
Frisella recounted another incident from eight years in which he claims he had to save a female cop’s life because “she was in over her head” with a large man.
That same day, Derek Machens, president of the St. Louis County Police Association, sent a letter to all officers that Frisella’s comments crossed a line and are “unacceptable and incompatible with the values we uphold.”
According to Machens, Frisella only removed that section of the September 12 podcast after facing opposition.
The union president said Frisella’s initial apology was more focused on the fitness entrepreneur’s donations and thus felt disingenuous.
“Mr. Frisella is a significant donor to law enforcement initiatives, and while financial contributions are appreciated, they cannot come at the expense of our integrity, our morals, and the respect owed to not only our women officers but all the members of our police family,” Machen wrote.
In a letter to department staff Sunday morning, St. Louis County Police Chief Col. Kenneth Gregory called Frisella’s comments hateful.
Many of you are aware of the hateful comments made by Andy Frisella with 1st Phorm. His comments were disturbing and despite his attempts at retracting them, we are severing our relationship with his company. Effective immediately, we will no longer be providing services to 1st Phorm via secondary employment nor receiving donations of any kind or services from them through fitness and nutrition classes. We value all of the members of this department, both men and women, and will not associate ourselves with someone harboring such hate for important members of our department.
Tomorrow, we move into the new North County Precinct, named after fallen Police Officer Joann Liscombe. I served with Joann, who always represented this department with honor and integrity. Her violent death and sacrifice will never be forgotten. We attend the Law Enforcement Memorial every year and never is a distinction made between the men and women wearing the badge. The words used by Mr. Frisella in his rant were violent and unacceptable. We all stand together and will not tolerate such hate against our sisters in uniform.
St. Louis County Police Chief Col. Kenneth Gregory
A short time later, St. Louis Police Chief Robert Tracy announced the SLMPD had severed ties with Frisella’s company.
Female police officers are valued and respected members of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. Each day, they risk their lives in service to the City of St. Louis. Female officers are at the core of our agency, serving in various roles and ranks — from patrol and detectives to specialized enforcement and senior commanders.
His overall and disparaging comments do not reflect our views or core values and have no place in the SLMPD.
We are severing ties with the organization.
St. Louis Police Chief Robert Tracy
For his part, Frisella later sent out an additional 12-minute audio clip in which he offered a full apology.
