(Image via weikfitness.com)
Staff Writer: Maya Arruda
Email: marruda7@umassd.edu
Former fitness influencer Brittany Dawn (real name: Brittany Davis) is being sued by the state of Texas for deceptive business practices after selling “custom fitness plans” to her followers.
According to the Better Business Bureau, Davis may be liable to pay between $250,000 to $1 million dollars after the civil court proceedings.
The full lawsuit document can be found here.
For those not eager to dive into a legal document, here are the highlights:
All the plans Davis sold as “customized” were, in fact, the same plan in different colored fedoras and did not do the personal check-ins she promised.
She sold weight loss plans to people who specifically told her they had eating disorders and needed weight gain plans.
Moreover, one individual who bought her program collapsed from inadequate nutrition.
“The main reason chose her [Ms. Davis] out of all the coaches out there was specifically that she advertised herself as an ‘eating disorder soldier.’ It was incredibly important to me that the person I chose to coach me had an idea of what it was like to deal with an eating disorder. Prior to reaching out to her for guidance, I had battled with anorexia and at my worst was below 80 lbs,” one customer testified.
Customers interacting on Brittany’s Facebook group, Team Brittany Dawn, started comparing plans, which marked the beginning of the end for Brittany Dawn Fitness.
For a taste of how many people she affected, the petition to take down Davis’ scam website has over 15,000 signatures.
15,000 angry people who want her to stop.
Even after the outcry, the website remains accessible online, fully intact, with the option to purchase her fitness plans still usable.
As can be seen on the website, her plans cost between $80-$260, though that is a lower price than was charged for the customers in the lawsuit document.
Following the public outcry from understandably disgruntled customers and others in the fitness field calling her out, Davis issued a public apology and switched over to Christian content, which she now posts on Instagram and TikTok.
It should be noted that she began organizing women-oriented religious weekend retreats for hundreds of dollars.
For those interested, the original apology video can be found on the r/brittanydawnsnark subreddit after Davis deleted it from her YouTube channel, along with many of her more recent postings.
Her new content focuses on her status as a foster mom, though this hasn’t been without controversy either.
Davis repeatedly featured the foster child in TikToks. When called out on it, Davis gave this response:
She has also made postings on TikTok about her fertility attempts and subsequent miscarriages.
Multiple TikToks have been made on the subject regarding her miscarriages, things that remind her of her miscarriages, and life-hack-esque fertility methods.
While not illegal or morally questionable, it is recommended that maybe one shouldn’t milk their personal misfortunes for content.
Another controversy arose when Davis and her husband raised funds for a homeless man named James on GoFundMe, though the original GoFundMe page has now been deleted.
A TikTok interview with James posted on the r/brittanydawnsnark subreddit confirmed suspicions that James did not receive the full amount of fundraiser money.
Brittany and her husband’s response video featuring James’ sister only served to confirm this allegation.
Another serious controversy involved Davis’ husband shooting their pet dog after the dog was hit by a car. The full video is still up on her YouTube channel despite the backlash.
It should be noted that this was not the only incident documenting any questionable treatment toward Davis’ pets.
A Redditor spread around a review Davis made about McKinney Horseplex and, more importantly, the owner’s response.
The owner alleges that Davis was neglectful towards her horse and never paid bills on time, including vet bills. They also stated that Davis threaten to post bad reviews if the business made her pay her bill.
Davis’ husband is not free from his own controversy.
Brittany Davis’s current husband, Jordon Nelson, was a cop in Kansas who was sued by the ACLU for use of excessive force against a black man back in 2013.
The assault was caught on doc cam, and the footage shows the victim, Joshua Bills, being ganged up on by five officers. Out of the five officers, only Nelson was charged with excessive force.
The pair married in 2021, eight years after the assault.
Davis is set to appear in court on March 6th, 2023, for her trial.
Dallas courts sometimes livestream trials publicly, but it is unclear if Brittany Davis’ trial will be streamed.