Latest / Mini Scroll / MINI SCROLL: Creator suing Sonya Dakar over alleged facial burns, Streamer Awards 2025 + TikTok Solidcore scandal

Transcript

MINI SCROLL: Creator suing Sonya Dakar over alleged facial burns, Streamer Awards 2025 + TikTok Solidcore scandal · Mini Scroll

• 0:00
  Hi everyone, welcome to Mini Scroll, the daily Internet
• 0:04
  culture podcast bringing you the biggest stories from social
• 0:07
  media, the creator economy and the digital space.
• 0:10
  Every Monday through Thursday and sometimes Fridays.
• 0:14
  I'm your host, Lauren Meisner, the founder of the youth digital
• 0:17
  media brand Centennial World. Welcome back everyone to Mini
• 0:22
  Scroll, the last Mini Scroll of 2025.
• 0:26
  We made it. I honestly just wanted to say
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  amazing year. So actually I did want to let
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  to help us, the daily podcast schedule.
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  guys to Spotify star rate US this year.
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  OK, let's get into the stories for today.
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  The first story that I have for you guys is a creator is suing
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  celebrity facialist Sonia Dakar after allegedly burning her
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  face. So a creator named Victoria
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  Nelson is suing the Beverly Hills based celebrity facialist
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  Sonia Dakar after she went totally viral back in August for
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  sharing her story about how Sonia allegedly burned her face.
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  So Victoria posted a TikTok video in August with the title
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  My Story about How Sonia Dakar Permanently Damaged my Face in
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  which she claims that a chemical peel that Sonia did on her face
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  in 2021 left her quote disfigured.
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  For anyone who doesn't know who Sonia is, her celebrity clients
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  allegedly included Gwyneth Paltrow, Leonardo DiCaprio,
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  Priyanka Chopra and Jennifer Lawrence and more.
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  So I don't actually think we covered this in August, but like
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  everyone else did, so maybe that's why I didn't cover it.
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  I can't remember. I remember it coming across my
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  desk. I remember seeing the videos.
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  I remember considering covering it in mini, but I don't think I
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  did. So anyways, Victoria had been a
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  client of Sonia's Sense 20/19. She said she went to her for
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  acne treatment and just kept going to her.
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  She really helped with her acne and she said they eventually
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  became so close she felt like they were family.
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  So at this appointment where she says that the burning occurred,
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  she says she was getting a microdermabrasion treatment when
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  Sonia allegedly applied the substance, which immediately
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  felt different to her than a usual chemical peel.
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  If you aren't familiar, usually chemical peels are done during
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  the same facial as a microdermabrasion.
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  At least all the microdermabrasion treatments
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  I've had done, I've also had a chemical peel like at the same
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  time, she said it felt really different.
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  It was burning. And, like, chemical peels do
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  burn, But if you've had them before, you kind of know the
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  difference between, OK, this is burning for, like, you know what
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  it's supposed to feel like versus this is burning.
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  And it's like, a problem. And she said her eyes were
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  watering after this chemical peel situation.
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  She said her face was burned. It was damaged.
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  And she said that Sonia assured her that it would be fine, that
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  she could resolve the burns in a month of treatments.
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  However, she did 18 sessions in 2021 and 12 in 2022.
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  And she says her burns had not gone away.
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  She estimated at that point she'd spent $30,000 on
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  treatments from Sonya and admitted that she still had no
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  idea what was in the chemical peel or like, what was in, I
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  guess, maybe not even a chemical peel, whatever was in the
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  substance that she used. Victoria then had to seek out a
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  dermatologist to help her, which she says cost another $8000.
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  And then when she told Sonya that she was going to the
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  dermatologist, she like, I can keep treating you whatever.
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  So she convinced her to book another $10,000 of treatments
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  with her. So basically, she claims over
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  the years that she spent around $60,000 with Sonia total.
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  And then after Victoria shared her story on TikTok in August,
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  like I said, it went so viral. It was covered across mainstream
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  media, news channels, podcasts, and she got tons of advice from
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  people. Everybody was like, please sue
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  her. So now she's back with a new
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  video saying that she's listened to everyone's advice.
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  And she has filed an official complaint against Sonia with the
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  California Board of Barbering and Cosmetology.
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  And she's also filed a civil lawsuit against her.
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  She is seeking up to $35,000 in damages.
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  And apparently this is actually not the first complaint that has
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  been filed to this board for Sonia.
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  So this is from the Cut quote. This allegedly isn't the first
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  time the California Board of Barbering and Cosmetology has
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  dealt with issues relating to the facialist.
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  According to Nelson's complaint, the board revoked the car's
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  license in 2009 after she assaulted a board inspector by
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  trying to bite her and pull her hair during an inspection,
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  leading to her getting placed on probation for three years.
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  Wild. OK, the next story that I have
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  you guys is I need to cover what happened at the streamer Awards.
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  Streamers were behaving badly is like the headline that everybody
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  is talking about and it happened this weekend.
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  I can't believe it only just came across my desk now.
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  I'm not sure how I missed it. But anyways, there's been tons
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  of backlash around these awards. So for anyone who doesn't know,
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  streamer QT Cinderella is the founder of the Streamer Awards.
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  She started them in 2021. They're held in LA every single
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  year and it's basically like an award show for streamers.
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  So there are two main points of criticism from this year's award
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  show. 1st that the show was poorly produced, and 2nd, that
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  the show heavily mocked black creators slash streamers.
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  So from the production standpoint, to start off,
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  viewers felt like it was a series of disjointed clips that
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  they were watching. It was very chaotic, like the
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  editing was chaotic, There was stage crashing from various
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  streamers, and in general, it felt really awkward and cringe.
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  It didn't flow easily. Some viewers even called it the
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  messiest show yet for the Streamer Awards because it felt
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  so unprofessional. If you didn't know what huh?
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  Keep talking. OK.
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  That was really helpful. Thank you so much.
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  I'm sure Wendy's really happy you did that.
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  OK, Anyway, I know that people are going to take moments from
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  tonight and clip them out of context and make it look like
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  there's drama and that that always happens, but I would
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  never set you guys up for something like that.
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  So anyway, Ludwig, could you name three people here you
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  wouldn't go to their funeral? Hassan You know what?
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  Actually, never mind. I think we're good.
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  We're good off that. Now on accusations that the show
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  was racist and anti black, there are two main quote UN quote
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  jokes of the night that have kind of amplified this
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  criticism. So at one point in the night, QT
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  Cinderella, who was hosting alongside Fan Fan, asked 17 year
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  old streamer Rakai Quote. What's the coolest thing you've
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  ever stolen, Eddie? Rakai question.
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  Yo, what's the coolest thing you've ever stolen?
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  Don't answer. It's a test.
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  It's a test. Rakai.
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  Have you learned nothing? Don't answer it.
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  Don't answer it. Now, Rakai did get banned from
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  Twitch for two years for stealing flowers from Walmart
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  like quite recently. But regardless of this back
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  story, a lot of people felt like this was unnecessary to bring
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  up. First of all, it was a night
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  that's supposed to celebrate streamers, you know, that's like
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  a low blow. And second of all, it felt
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  racially motivated regardless. And the second major quote UN
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  quote joke that felt targeted was by the Co host fan fan who
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  compared Kaisenat to Diddy. We've got another record breaker
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  here tonight too, Kaisenat. This year, as everyone knows,
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  you broke the record for the most expensive haircut and the
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  least educational university. So congratulations to you.
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  Oh and also Congrats on your new documentary with a $0.50 that
• 9:21
  was that was you right? I mean this is fucked up for so
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  many reasons and in general I've seen a lot of discourse that
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  these awards are the result of how the streaming industry
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  operates now. So streamer Shonda Black on X
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  wrote my hottest take on the streamer awards is all the drama
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  and clip farming is a direct consequence of promoting and
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  rewarding that kind of behavior throughout the entire year.
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  Reap what you sow type of shit. So QT Cinderella has addressed
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  some of the criticisms. She said on stream on Monday
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  that she's looked into the criticisms.
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  She says that they're valid and she promises to change things
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  for next year. She also says that her comment
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  or her question I suppose to Rakai was not racially
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  motivated. Next year, I promise I have so
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  many ideas. It's going to be incredible.
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  It's going to be incredible. The only thing I will address is
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  the same thing that I addressed on Fear and the Rakai joke.
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  It was not racially motivated. He was banned for stealing.
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  That's it. That is all.
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  I think I had such a big epiphany this year where I was
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  like, Oh my gosh, this show, it's just so much bigger than it
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  used to be. And I have to adjust for that
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  because like, everyone in the room knew that.
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  Everyone in the room knew that he was banned for stealing, but
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  it's more than everyone in the room.
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  And so, duh, we're fixing it. OK.
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  All right. And the last story that I have
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  for you guys is I'm going to break down the TikTok solid Core
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  scandal going on right now. So a creator named Anthony Festa
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  is feuding with the workout studio Solid Core after he
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  documented himself attending a 6:00 AM class on a Sunday
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  morning where the instructor didn't show up until halfway
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  through the class. So Anthony took this class on
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  Thanksgiving weekend, American Thanksgiving, and he was the
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  only one who had booked the class.
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  He vlogged himself, basically giving himself his own private
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  class until the instructor showed up halfway through.
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  I also need to point out here that he vlogged it apparently
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  through his meta glasses, which is just so freaky.
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  I don't know, it just never. I've never really looked into
• 11:25
  them. This is not giving mini tech.
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  I've really never looked into the meta glasses and the fact
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  that you can vlog through them is crazy.
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  This video got some traction but it's coming kind of into the
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  zeitgeist now because of a follow up video that he posted a
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  couple of days ago. In this new video, he claims
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  that the studio and instructors were trying to pressure him to
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  take down his original vlog because it looks bad on them and
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  it will threaten the standing of their studio with like Global
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  and it also threatens his own membership.
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  Once I left the class, the teacher started blowing up my
• 12:00
  TikTok, my Instagram, my phone being like, oh, Callie, one of
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  the other teachers at the studio said you could keep the last 30
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  seconds of the video, but you need to edit out all the rest.
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  Like can you please delete the video?
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  Can you please take it down, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.
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  I get a phone call from my best friend who also goes to solid
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  core who joined because of me and he's friends with this other
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  coach Callie. He calls me.
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  He's like, you need to take down this video.
• 12:29
  Callie just called me freaking out.
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  She's saying she's going to lose her job, Jayden's going to lose
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  her job, Wynn's going to get in trouble, the studio's going to
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  be flagged. It's going to affect us.
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  You're going to lose your membership.
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  It's going to be a whole thing. You need to take this video
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  down. So I said to him, I said, you
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  know what? Since when are you solid course
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  PR? Like I didn't realize you were
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  on solid course payroll. If there's an issue, Wynn can
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  call me and let me know. So 10 minutes later, Wynn calls
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  me. I don't pick up either of her
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  calls. And you know, sometimes somebody
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  leaves you like a ghost voicemail when is like the
• 13:06
  regional like manager or whatever, her husband's in the
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  background and one of these voicemails being like, tell him
• 13:13
  to call you back. I'm like, oh, she wants you to
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  take the video down too. The next day I go to class,
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  Cali's teaching after class, I go up to Cali because this
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  caused a big rift in my friendship.
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  Like I'm very upset with my friend.
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  Like this whole thing. I go up here I go.
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  You know what, Cali, it's really not appropriate for you to be
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  reaching out to my friend to get in contact with me about
• 13:34
  something that's completely unacceptable.
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  She's like, well, you didn't reply to Jayden, the coach that
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  taught my class in the morning. She's like, you didn't answer
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  Jayden. You didn't reply to Jayden.
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  I go Callie, I don't have to reply to Jayden.
• 13:47
  If this girl wants to be like involved in me and my
• 13:50
  friendships and reach out to my friends on behalf of her to ask
• 13:54
  me about my tik toks and my and solid core, then she needs to
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  quit her job as a coach and become a client because there
• 13:59
  needs to be a level of professionalism.
• 14:01
  This is on Chuck E Cheese. So Anthony's whole thing is
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  like, I did nothing wrong. Like I showed up for a class
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  that I booked and the instructor wasn't there.
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  Like, what was I supposed to do? Like, I'm not lying in this
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  video. So he hasn't taken it down.
• 14:13
  Now there is another side to this story.
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  So apparently the class he attended was cancelled because
• 14:19
  nobody was signed up, I guess. But there was a glitch in their
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  system which allowed him to sign up right before the class
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  started and the instructor didn't know.
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  And I guess the way that he got into the studio and got
• 14:29
  everything going is like you have a code when you go to solid
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  core, like when you're a member so you have a code so you can
• 14:34
  like enter the gym without anyone being there.
• 14:36
  Now there's tons of discourse about this on Reddit, tons of
• 14:39
  people saying that they go to the same solid core as he does
• 14:43
  and that he has like problematic behavior all the time.
• 14:46
  So one post reads, I take classes at the studio and have
• 14:50
  seen his behavior multiple times.
• 14:52
  This isn't A1 off situation. He often doesn't follow the
• 14:55
  rules, shows up without being registered, takes other people's
• 14:59
  machines and records during classes even after being told
• 15:02
  not to. He has posted multiple videos
• 15:04
  that show other people working out in the background without
• 15:06
  their consent. I've seen him walk out mid class
• 15:09
  after doing his own routine which disrupts everyone else.
• 15:12
  You can also see in his own video that the instructor texted
• 15:14
  him saying the class was cancelled and asked if he was
• 15:16
  still coming. So the idea that she just no
• 15:19
  showed isn't accurate based on what he posted himself.
• 15:22
  There's no way to verify if this is true or not, and Anthony has
• 15:25
  responded to this. He has responded to what people
• 15:27
  are saying on Reddit. And as far as the Reddit thread,
• 15:30
  I don't even want to give it life.
• 15:31
  It's so hilarious. You have to ask yourself, how do
• 15:35
  how all of a sudden do these people have a problem with him?
• 15:38
  And there's all these complaints after he just made a viral
• 15:41
  video, yet he's been going to solid core 5 * a week for six
• 15:45
  years and there's never been an issue.
• 15:47
  And he's like a star solid core person.
• 15:49
  Like I'm sorry, how do I steal someone's machine at solid core?
• 15:53
  You guys see my video? I'm like the earliest one there.
• 15:56
  I'm the first one there. There's no machines for me to
• 15:58
  steal. They're all open.
• 15:59
  Also, no one ever said anything to me about filming.
• 16:02
  Everything was fine for my thousandth class.
• 16:04
  That video that I filmed with my thousand class, no one ever said
• 16:06
  anything about the meta glasses or told me that it wasn't OK.
• 16:09
  OK, but one of the craziest things about this story, the
• 16:12
  thing that people are actually like loving from this story
• 16:15
  despite like what is true, what is not like we really don't know
• 16:19
  is that he is still going back to solid core.
• 16:22
  He's still taking this instructors class and he posted
• 16:25
  a vlog going back being like, I'm going back amid our feud.
• 16:28
  And you can hear him say like, oh, sorry about the video.
• 16:30
  And then she's like, Oh yeah, no, I'm on probation.
• 16:33
  So I need to apologize. And people are like, this is
• 16:37
  such a lesson in confidence because he really, I mean, I
• 16:40
  don't know if he did anything wrong or not, but he really
• 16:41
  doesn't believe he's done anything wrong.
• 16:43
  If there's one thing we can take away, it's that he has audacity
• 16:46
  and confidence. And that is something that I am
• 16:49
  personally trying to develop more of as as like a woman.
• 16:52
  I find it really challenging, especially in business.
• 16:55
  So watching this, despite if he is right or wrong or the
• 16:58
  instructor is right or wrong or whatever, you know what, I could
• 17:01
  take a lesson or two from him. It's also so relatable that he's
• 17:04
  still going to solid core. He's like, I can't quit
• 17:07
  honestly. Fair.
• 17:08
  Like I my version of solid core for myself is Berry's.
• 17:12
  I'm fucking obsessed with Berry's.
• 17:14
  I mean, I don't have a membership or anything, but I'll
• 17:16
  do like one off classes here and there and it's like a reward to
• 17:19
  myself because they're so expensive.
• 17:20
  And I just like, Oh my God, I love berries so much and the
• 17:24
  berries instructor could genuinely hit me with their car
• 17:27
  and I would still go back because I love it so much.
• 17:31
  So I get it. Anyways guys, that's it for Mini
• 17:34
  Scroll today and for 2025. I love you guys.
• 17:39
  Thank you so much for listening. Thank you for this year.
• 17:42
  I'm so excited to be back in your ears. 5:00-ish days a week.
• 17:47
  What do we say? Four to five days a week, three
• 17:50
  to five days a week, depending if there's a deep dive.
• 17:52
  I'm so excited to be back in your ears next year.
• 17:55
  Thank you so much for an amazing, amazing year.
• 17:58
  Please have a healthy and safe and fun break.
• 18:02
  If you guys are celebrating Christmas and taking a break in
• 18:05
  December, I hope it's amazing and I can't wait to talk to you
• 18:09
  guys on January 5th. Bye.