Inside the F-Factor Diet Controversy (with Emily Gellis)

Subscribe to Lemonada Premium for Bonus Content

Description

Is Emily Gellis “fed up” with her feud against F-Factor founder Tanya Zuckerbrot? Kiki, Hoja, and Mohanad explore this and much, much more in today’s episode with the Emily Gellis herself. They talk about the hit new Wondery podcast Fed Up, why Emily thinks people are so enthralled with this story, and whether or not she would back down from this fight if Tanya were to apologize. Plus, Emily reveals who she would want to play her and Tanya in the hypothetical F-Factor scripted series. White ladies – listen up! Because this episode is for you.

Please note, I’m Sorry contains mature themes and may not be appropriate for all listeners.

Follow Emily Gellis on Instagram @emilygellis. Listen to Wondery’s Fed Up podcast about Emily and Tanya’s feud: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fed-up/id1633479565.

Subscribe to I’m Sorry Premium on Spotify: https://anchor.fm/imsorrypremium/subscribe.

Do you have someone you need to apologize to? Does someone owe you an apology? We want to hear about it! Send us an email at imsorry@lemonadamedia.com or DM us on Instagram @imsorry_podcast.

You can find out more about our show @lemonadamedia on all social platforms.

Click this link for a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this show and all Lemonada shows: http://lemonadamedia.com/sponsors/

Joining Lemonada Premium is a great way to support our show and get bonus content. Subscribe today at bit.ly/lemonadapremium.

For additional resources, information, and a transcript of the episode, visit lemonadamedia.com.

Transcript

SPEAKERS

Hoja Lopez, Emily Gellis, Mohanad Elshieky, Kiki Monique

Kiki Monique  00:00

Hi I’m Kiki Monique. And this is I’M SORRY, the unapologetic show about apologies. And this week, I had to pay my first California utility bill for my new place. And now I need to figure out how I can live in the dark, not bathe, not washed clothes and still have friends.

Mohanad Elshieky  00:23

And this is Mohanad Elshieky and literally yesterday, I paid my electricity bill. And I think I don’t need lights anymore around the house too. So I get it.

Hoja Lopez  00:32

And my name is Hoja Lopez. And I have yet again, shared my location with Mohanad accidentally. This is my move. I hope I just really want people to know where I am and to join me. For those people who accidentally share location. At least for safe, I think,

Mohanad Elshieky  00:50

Yeah, also Hoja. I mean, it doesn’t matter if you share your location with me or not at this point. Literally I know that you’re on a lake. That is true. It’s so easy to guess where Hoja is, like literally if you have been like, looked for by the FBI or something. She’s at the lake. Where do you think she is?

Hoja Lopez  01:08

First of all, That’s so romantic. She’s at the lake is a great response for I think anything. And I feel really good about being at the lake. It’s my favorite place is Montrose dog beach in Chicago, Illinois, and it’s the single greatest place on Earth. Even for people who don’t have dogs. I’ll call them dog voyeurs. They come, they hang out, there people who just want to look at other people’s dogs.

Mohanad Elshieky  01:32

No, that makes sense to me.

Kiki Monique  01:34

Well, I just want to say, oh, I think you might be mad. I don’t know if you’re gonna be mad at me Mohammed for this, but Oh, ha, you might be mad. I’m sorry. But avocados and guacamole are disgusting. They make me gag. The texture is wrong. I can’t do it. I’m tired of lying and saying I’m allergic so people don’t judge me. I just want to say I don’t like avocados. I do not like guacamole. And when I see avocados and eggs next to each other. I’m almost dry heaving now. Because it’s the thought of those two ducks in a bowl together. I cannot. And no, I never will. I just can’t.

Mohanad Elshieky  02:14

I feel like between me saying that. I hate iced coffee. And now Kiki saying that she does not like avocados. I feel like we’re literally isolating our fan base that are White women. We’re trying to stop them from like listening to the podcast.

Kiki Monique  02:33

Which is like really unfortunate because I feel like this episode is going to be like the one that White women are gonna love.

Hoja Lopez  02:42

Oh, yeah. This is the most White lady episode to date.

Mohanad Elshieky  02:47

Okay, I’ll tell you this about walking guacamole, though. I think the second day started like charging extra for it. Like, you have to pay $1 extra, like if you’re like, I don’t know, like, at Chipotle or like buying. Or like, whatever. Everyone’s like, oh, I want this.

Hoja Lopez  03:04

Yeah, it suddenly got hot. It was like a hot commodity. That’s right.

Mohanad Elshieky  03:08

Yeah. Yeah. But I feel like if it’s free or avocado, and I think people like love avocados because like also avocado is like one of those like, things are just like go bad immediately. So it feels like you know, there’s something about it. They’re just like..

Hoja Lopez  03:25

[…] was like a fuck boy. We’re like true. Like, yeah, it’s like, charges a little extra kind of expensive, like, soft and buttery. And also kind of elusive and mysterious.

Mohanad Elshieky  03:38

Absolutely. Because like you get avocados and then the next day, avocados are gonna be like, I am not the same anymore. I’ve changed. I am different now. You left me for too long. And I’m sorry.

Hoja Lopez  03:54

Yeah, well, I’ll just let you know that I do have a bit of a vendetta against an avocado, but it’s a specific avocado tree in my grandma’s backyard. I’m from Venezuela originally, and we had literally a mango tree in the front yard and an avocado tree in the backyard. And as you watch avocados would fall so would mangoes and they will just rot on the ground. And I probably slipped on avocados maybe 25 times in my whole life. So it’s like the Latino banana peel even though bananas are pretty much the Latino banana peel but still. I will say I have both a vendetta against a physical avocado but truly delicious. Should they be that expensive? What is the […]

Mohanad Elshieky  04:34

You know? I feel like avocados are one of those things like if you go to a place where they like naturally grow, they might test so much better. It’s like when you like buy tomatoes at the grocery store and then you grow your own tomatoes and you’re like, is this what tomatoes are supposed to taste? What kind of shit have I been eating my whole life? So I feel like it’s one of those things too. So we’ll see. I mean well wait, I’ll test it to some other country and report back.

Kiki Monique  05:03

Well, whether you know, if you do love iced coffee and avocados, then you are going to probably love our next guest or at least this next episode, we have Emily Gellis, which, you know, I just moved to LA. I’m from Brooklyn. So, Emily is this influencer. She’s an entrepreneur, and most recently she was featured in this new wondery podcast series called fed up, which was about her feud with this dietician who founded F-Factor, Tanya Zuckerbrot, now if you weren’t paying attention to this feud when it was happening, essentially, Emily’s DMs were becoming inundated by people who were allegedly sickened by Tanya’s products and Emily essentially led a crusade for these people posting all of their stories on her Instagram account, which then led to Tanya suing Emily for defamation not once, but twice. And Emily is here to share her story and some of the insider details about her feud with Tanya.

Kiki Monique  06:18

Emily, thank you so much for joining. This is so funny to me because like there were very specific moments during like locked down quarantine that stick out in my mind. One was like, the celebrities doing that like pass the mic imagine song, Tiger King, and you and Tanya Zuckerbrot basically becoming like my real housewives like, look, I fully admit that I love watching rich White women fight it is my favorite pastime, okay, so like, for me, this was like purely entertainment. And it’s like, I don’t want to make light of it. Because I know that like, this whole story has evolved because essentially, you were becoming an activist for people who were sending stories about using the F factor product. And that’s what really started the feud. And for people who don’t really know the background, wondering is doing like a really great six part series where they just break down sort of everything that happened starting in 2020. Until now, now, just curious, like, when did you find out wondery was even doing this series?

Emily Gellis  07:32

I knew since last summer. So I did my first they approached me July or August of 2021. And then I started recording in August of 2021. So I knew for like a year I kept my mouth shut.

Hoja Lopez  07:51

Damn that must have been hard.

Emily Gellis  07:52

That’s very hard for me. But Tanya loves, if I’m excited about anything, she instantly wants to like crush on my dreams. And you know, so I learned to shut my mouth.

Kiki Monique  08:03

Now when you heard they were doing this, were you excited? Or were you kind of fearful that it had been reignited, because at this point you had already now for people who don’t know you have been served with two lawsuits, one in like October 2020, and one now in March of 2022. So you’d already been served the first lawsuit when they started this theory. So were you kind of like, I don’t know if I want to rehash this right now.

Emily Gellis  08:27

No, I want the story to get out there. I want you know; I want as much potential press attention and spotlight on the story because I want there to be some justice for the victims of this woman and of this diet. So and honestly, I didn’t know what wondery was in the beginning. But like, people in the business and like agents at CAA that I was talking to were like, Will they’re good. And this will you know, if you’re wondering podcasts is a nice shortcut to TV. That’s usually what they do. And like, I didn’t even know they were owned by Amazon. But I learned that and then, you know, they told me a few podcasts that I could listen to that were they felt were similar in vibe, and they told me listen to shrink next door and Dr. Death. And I was like, okay, I think I’m gonna participate.

Mohanad Elshieky  09:17

The podcast has been number one for a while, like for at least a week on Apple podcasts.

Emily Gellis  09:22

It’s been living at number one.

Mohanad Elshieky  09:24

Yeah, yeah. And you know, it’s not all the apps that are out yet but what do you like so far? What do you think about how they are portraying the story?

Emily Gellis  09:33

I think they made it a little salacious, which is not maybe like what I would want but I do know that one of the writers on it Sas Goldberg, has been dying to make it into scripted television for since the beginning. Like she followed it religiously. And she like had a whole vision and she was a writer for the podcast and I can see it like living in a stream or like platform like in a scripted television way, and so I kind of see the episodes in that way. And I think for the most part, like 95% of it I’m happy with so you know, I appreciate like what they did.

Kiki Monique  10:12

If they did make this a scripted series, I’m just curious, like, who would you want to play you? And who would you want to play Tanya?

Emily Gellis  10:18

Okay, I don’t know. But Sas said it. So it’s stuck in my mind. Ever since we had this first meeting. She was like, I see Jennifer Lawrence as you and like, Julia Roberts, Julia Roberts as Tanya and I was like, okay, you’re naming ageless actresses. Like, I think you’re crazy. But sure.

Hoja Lopez  10:39

What do you think about it is about this story that ignites like, people’s like, a fire inside because it’s not just like us who’ve been like, following it. It’s not just like, you know, people in the wellness community, it really feels like this, like universal story somehow, and I don’t really know why. So what do you think it is?

Emily Gellis  11:01

I mean, I think a lot of people have made reference to like a David and Goliath type story. I think that there it just depends on like, she represents one whole world on Instagram, I represent another like, she’s a more classic uptown lady who cares about elegance or so called elegance, let’s say, like the downtown grunt. I’m not grungy. But like, according to her, I live in a pigsty, like you know, so, whatever make what you will have it so I think it’s how people see themselves and like, you know, some people I think, in the pandemic got tired of like, bullshitters on the internet, like not being called out. And she’s like a prime example of that. The difference is, she has such deep pockets that she can’t even be canceled, because she’s gonna keep going, you know what I mean? Like, she’s gonna go on forever, because she could afford to have lawsuits lose money, like, but she’s still gonna go around galavanting about her life and crying one minute, then I’m going to stalk her, but then like, posting her hotel the next day in Capri so or whatever, Lake Como, she’s on vacation every other week, I can’t keep track.

Kiki Monique  12:09

Now, was there a moment because, you know, obviously, looking at both sides. And when we DMS, I was very honest, like, you know, my followers want to deep dive on this. And I want to see both sides of it. So I’ve obviously spent a lot of time on, like, all sorts of accounts. And you know, you have to take everything with a grain of salt, because I don’t know who’s behind a lot of these anonymous accounts, I can really only sort of like listen to these stories. But obviously, some of the pro Tonya accounts, you know, they’ll they’ll pull out stuff from your history. And they’ll say, Well, look, there’s this picture of you where you’re, you know, saying my diet this week is air consumption. And, you know, I’m look, I’m from New York, like, I get it, like, there was a very skinny culture, diet culture that existed, but Did something happened between, you know, that Emily and Emily that, you know, went after F factor that changed and, you

Emily Gellis  12:55

No, I think like diet culture is what it is, but there’s levels to it, like, I don’t know of any other diet, getting people this sick. And like that, you know, she has a product in the mix that people were consuming that they were getting sick from. So, you know, I think people women go in and out of diets that’s like, very normal, like, there’s times in my life where I’m so strict about what I eat. And I’m really mindful of it. And I’m working out and I’m like, super in that phase. And then I just had a baby like, I’m like, more like, like, you know, and I don’t want to be like so diet obsessed and have that, like run my life, especially after what I’ve uncovered these last two years about how sad and how deep the wounds are for people, they’ve been so affected by this. And you know, it’s really hurt them and it’s sit way more serious than it’s ever hurt me. So I’m trying to be more mindful of like, what I portray on the internet, and I don’t want to be a phony, like, I don’t want to be like, I don’t diet. And then I’m secretly like eating 200 calories a day like to lose weight, like I don’t want to be that person.

Kiki Monique  14:15

Now, I mean, we’re in this age right now. I mean, I do a lot of the same thing. I call myself a social media journalist, because people are really starved for this sort of, like, journalism that, you know, is more, you know, like, I think that bigger publications may or may not go after they don’t go as deep dive is maybe you know, Instagram accounts or tick tock accounts, will do you know, is there. Would you have pursued this so much, maybe if locked down hadn’t been a thing? Was it all the combination of like being in lockdown and finding something to do? Is that what blew it up? Or were you going to like go after this regardless? And are there other? Are there other companies that you’re interested in pursuing that you think might be harming people?

Emily Gellis  14:59

Yes, I mean, if first of all, if I had legal protection, I would be going after plenty of people, you know, bad people like Dexter, you know, but not like killing people.

Mohanad Elshieky  15:12

Killing the brand.

Emily Gellis  15:13

Yeah. But like, yeah, if I felt protected in some way, I would want to use my platform to do more of this type of work. Because I think it’s really important. And I know I helped a lot of people. There’s a sad reality, though, in this country, there’s wealth disparity, and wealth can move certain meters certain ways. And she’s able to use her money to influence and, you know, scare people, and she can lose a million dollars suing me if she wants to, I don’t have that kind of money to be able to do that. I can’t do that. So that’s a problem for me personally. And I don’t think the pandemic so is the reason. It didn’t make me want to do it anymore. It has nothing to do with me, is it why people were maybe more receptive to it. I think there were a lot of people that hate her that wanted to see this go down, because they felt like she was getting away with something maybe she shouldn’t be getting away with. And they knew her personally. And they were like, she’s not a good person. And then there was the rumblings of the diet. And I kind of talked about this on the Deux Moi podcast, like, Deux Moi got a lot more personal claims about her, I got a lot more diet claims about her. And I really wasn’t interested in the personal salacious claims about her and there’s still a lot I haven’t even touched, like, I haven’t even brought them up. Because I really don’t want to go there. I think her persona speaks for itself. If people are avid social media watchers, I think they can kind of tell her message. I don’t think I really need to get into that here. And there. I’ve said certain things that I think kind of round out the story. But that’s not really my goal. I do think things bubbled up in the pandemic, like there were some influencers really pissing people off, and they wanted them called out. But I think it would have happened either way.

Kiki Monique  16:59

Now, one of the accounts that was brought up during the wondery series was this account F factor facts. And I noticed this week that they went live for the first time now when we were listening to the series, they were an anonymous account, and Romi is her name has now gone live and dead. I think it was like a 60 minute live. I’m sort of like going through this list of stuff now. Well, what do you think the reason is that she decided to go live? Is it because is it having to do with a case? Is it because I mean, I feel like it’s been alluded to like this whole television series? Is it because there’s a TV series and people want to be attached to this to get their side out. And they can only do that. If they’re not anonymous? Like what do you think it would be?

Emily Gellis  17:47

Well, wondery wouldn’t let anybody go on anonymously. So they needed to verify their full identity to be a part of the series. Got it. I am in the process of finding out Ramiz last name to take legal action myself for that account and things that have gone on but I had to do some digging for that. I did not get that information from wondery. But they always vetted her. Really, they stand behind that they know who she is. My whole thing is that you can’t vet how many different people log into an Instagram account. So did she create it? Yes. Is it affiliated to her? Yes. Does that mean someone else can’t log in and do shit? I don’t think so. So that’s my like, if you take on that, there’s no TV deals that have been like signed yet. There’s a lot of talking about them. But I mean, I guess like I don’t think they’re gonna I don’t know that they would let her go on anonymously. Maybe a victim they would but I don’t think her but like also like her. To me, Tanya is more of a cult leader. And this is a cult like setting and these people are just like diehards. I don’t know how she convinces them. I don’t know if there’s monetary gain for them. I don’t know, I might never know. I really have no idea of why somebody I don’t have fans that would like, Go Die Hard for me. Like, you know, I have people that would testify. Like, under oath, that’s a little different than like, these pages are disgusting about me. You know?

Hoja Lopez  19:15

I mean, I think like, I’ve vetted them to the best of my ability and like, I don’t see anybody’s reason to make up a story like that, and lie, you know, what do you have to gain of lying about being sick from a diet to me on the internet, there’s no gain for me, there’s no game for them. You know, if somebody hated Tanya Zuckerbrot about so much meat, they can make up a fake page and talk shit about her all day long. Like, you know, telling me they got sick from her diet is not going to cancel her. If it was one person, if it was two, I was getting hundreds and 1000s of messages a day. This is a you know; this woman was selling a million dollars’ worth of product a month. 175,000 orders according to her, that’s a lot of protein powder. That’s a lot of people in a very short period of time. So there are validity to these claims. And I did the best of my ability to get them. I’m not a journalist and ever claimed to be a journalist. I begged the media to cover this story. They didn’t want to pick it up. So I kind of took the baton from there.

Hoja Lopez  19:15

Become like little armies for people. And like, it’s like a like, Are you Team Depp or you’re Team Heard like, there’s this like, weird grossness on the internet, that when there is a feud, I feel like people just pick their avatar, and then go after the other person even if they don’t have skin in the game, which is really gross. And also like you guys are real people like yes, you’re influencers and you’re, that you have some notoriety, but like, your lives are online, like those things really affect you guys. And I guess my question is, you know, like, because those people that did come out, like technically they’re coming out anonymously, they’re coming out in a way that’s like, hearsay. You know what I mean? We keep thinking of hearsay as this thing. That’s like something we can’t rely on something that we can’t trust in, like, how did you feel about the idea of hearsay before all of this happened? Because it seems like you made the decision to start sharing. But I mean, did you ever have like, I guess I would love to know your mindset around sharing those stories. And yeah, tell me more about that.

Kiki Monique  21:16

But then they eventually did pick it up. I mean, you had the New York Times article, which was obviously a huge article, and I assumed the two journalists. I think it was Katie Rosman and Abby Allen. Like they vetted you and they you know, they put in, you know, like the one story that seem to sneak in, but everything else they seem to vet and say like, you know, they stand behind the story. Still to this day. I assume?

Emily Gellis  21:37

Everyone has vetted what I’ve said major publications wondering, these are massive companies. They don’t just put things out there. There’s no question to anyone of the validity of what I did, except for Tanya Zuckerbrot  and her army of loyal followers.

Kiki Monique  21:51

Now, Tanya hasn’t spoken much. I mean, obviously, we would love to also have Tanya on the show. She might go live, but I don’t feel like she’s, I don’t feel like she talks about the story in the same way you do. I feel like she lives her life online and does her F-factor thing. I don’t feel like I’ve heard from her too much of the side of the story again, like I see accounts. On her behalf. I don’t know if I necessarily see her speaking so much. Just like well, but you see, you’re saying you think you see her all the time? Do you think she talks about this case? And I’m just missing it?

Emily Gellis  22:26

Yeah, she talks about me a lot. But yeah, she doesn’t speak to publications that much. Because my opinion is that she liked the media when they were pro her. So when they said yay, Tanya, everything you do is amazing. You’re the best dietician ever for Megyn Kelly and Olivia Culpo. She liked them. But now that if there is pop problems or there she doesn’t allow criticism, you’re not allowed to criticize Tanya.

Mohanad Elshieky  22:51

I see what you mean. Yeah, cuz I saw some of the lives that you share that what she was talking about you and I believe in one of them. She compared you to Jeffrey Dahmer?

Emily Gellis  23:00

Yeah, she compared me to a serial killer that eats people. She said, I’m like a serial killer that eats people.

Mohanad Elshieky  23:07

I mean, I see what you’re saying. So it’s more like she’s willing to speak. It was like one side and like she’s telling her side of the story. But like she’s not willing to take question.

Emily Gellis  23:16

Yeah, like, every interview that I’ve done with every major publication has said like, just so you know, we’re going to reach out to Tanya like, I know that that’s how this works now, like for fair journalism, everybody reaches out, but I don’t think, if she can’t control the outcome, she’s not interested. So on her lives, she can control it. And you know, in her world, she can really control the narrative. If somebody’s asking a question, though, outside of her world, and she doesn’t like it, you know, that gets iffy, I think for her, do you

Kiki Monique  23:44

think there’s a chance so obviously, like I spent a lot of time just looking through the complaints, because that’s what I do now is go through celebrity trials and read their complaints. And so I read through all of it. And one thing that stood out to me and I’m just wondering what you thought about it is like in all of these complaints, one thing that she really points out over and over, and I think this is when she still had Lonnie Davis representing her and Lanny Davis is a really high profile attorney I think represented Michael Cohen represented like Bill Clinton, like a really high profile attorney was pointing out how when you know this sort of online harassment was happening back and forth between both sides that you know, she would reach out or her husband reach out or people would reach out to Facebook and Instagram and say like, shut this down. You know, this violates Terms and Conditions. Do you think like the way I read it, it really did feel like potentially she was setting herself up for an actual larger lawsuit against like the Facebook and the Instagram. And not to say like almost using you as a pawn like I don’t know if you feel that way. Do you feel like this is like this lawsuit is serving like a bigger need she’s going after in the long game?

Emily Gellis  25:01

I feel like her legal counsel advised her like, you’re no chance you’re gonna win that, you know, like, that’s really going to be an uphill battle. So I feel like that’s why make a public example out of me. And like, you know, she where she can really drag me but Facebook, Instagram, Amazon, you know, they have unlimited legal funds.

Kiki Monique  25:20

But yeah, I mean, I know people the section 230 has been really brought up a lot in a lot of things and like how platforms, you know, let everything kind of be the Wild West and you know, I’m just wondering if maybe she is looking to be an activist in a different way because of this.

Emily Gellis  25:38

I don’t know. She really only cares about herself. So if it serves her, sure, I don’t think she’s out there for other people.

Hoja Lopez  25:45

Yeah, I think that this actually totally fits into that narrative to Emily though because it could be very like, kind of like culture wars sort of like figuring into the larger like sort of conversation about social media and kind of censorship as well as sort of truth on social media so I could definitely see that angle Kiki and I don’t know it’s This is giving me in terms of like, in terms of like her not just like personality and kind of brand but it’s giving me very like Mean Girls it’s giving me like it’s giving me but in such a complex way that when I try to sort of like fit it all in my head I really struggled to last it’s like I struggle to understand the controversy aside from really trying to focus on the victims and what’s going on with the people the things that actually happened to the people which is maybe where they actually should be, you know?

Emily Gellis  26:49

Yeah, I’ve always I’ve said like I think like the things that made it popular is like all the antics and like probably whatever but I don’t like that it took away from the victims and like it’s not a regret because like I did what I did and I have in the moment there are reasons why I did whatever I did but like I wish that it could be really centered around Okay, these people got sick that’s why I’m trying to do this class action for them so that like they can get repaid you know some money’s due to them and you know, kind of move on if

Kiki Monique  27:20

Tanya were to come to you today and say look like I just want this done. let’s each take our losses I don’t even know how much you’ve spent in lawyers I don’t even know he would probably give me a heart attack and I don’t you know and we and you said let’s each take our losses and go away would you walk away from this just so it would be over knowing that like a case like a class action couldn’t go through but just so that this would be done?

Emily Gellis  27:43

No, I really want to see FDA regulation I want to see change in the space I didn’t go through all this for nothing like there’s no way that people should be telling people what to eat on the internet without, you know, if you talk about COVID For example, right? If you talk about vaccine a thing pops up on the bottom like for information about the COVID vaccine that’s how it should be for people talking about diet there are plenty of non-licensed non whatever people that are just out there sharing information who the hell knows if what they’re saying is true or not and especially about talking about a protein powder or a vitamin or things you’re consuming like to me that’s very alarming.

Kiki Monique  28:42

I do want to point out, I mean, we heard in the last episode of weaponry they tested the powder and they said it was the same results that I think that the today’s show or the certificate of analysis show and so sort of like the powder seem to say like okay, this is safe but is your point that even though the certificates say that they’re safe that people were still sick and that needs to be addressed?

Emily Gellis  29:09

Well, first of all, yeah, there’s a there’s a few things they’re safe, but like you need I think it’s important to point out the products used in her powder are for example not illegal in Europe. So they’re illegal in the United States. They’re not illegal abroad. First of all, second of all, they can get away with saying it’s safe but in California has a prop 65 warning for lead. So let’s say that you’re okay with having a little bit a day. There’s no warning for how much is too much so people were eating it six times a day. So if one scoop has 20 something grams they were eating 100-120, so, that’s dangerous. That’s a serious thing.

Hoja Lopez  29:53

Like baking into their cake.

Emily Gellis  29:57

Coffee, smoothie, ice cream, you name it.

Kiki Monique  30:02

As someone who has been on diets, you know, for a large part of their life, like, we don’t listen, I will say this for myself like even today, there was a woman on Tik Tok. And she’s taking these pills. And she said she lost weight and I bought the pills. I’m not saying I’m a great example. What I’m saying is I bought the pills. And the pill on the bottom the bottle it said, take one. I’ve been taking two every day. And so I don’t know. But what I’m saying is like I do, it’s like, I can see both sides of it, where it’s like the manufacturer saying this is absolutely safe. But Kiki, you’re a fucking idiot.

Emily Gellis  30:42

Kiki, you’re not a registered dietician claiming to help people, are you? That’s the difference. If you’re a consumer and you’re choosing to do that, then you wouldn’t be suing them. If you got sick. Would you say it’s their fault?

Kiki Monique  30:54

No. Like, I’m a dumbass.

Mohanad Elshieky  30:59

Do you think the reason they’re not really specifying a […] is to get people to, to buy more and more and more, because they think they need a lot of it? They were selling a million dollars a month. It’s a lot of powder.

Mohanad Elshieky  31:11

Exactly. Because that yeah, it makes sense. Because I feel like if you’re like, for example, taking like an ibuprofen or something, it tells you like, hey, take one every eight hours. And this is how much?

Emily Gellis  31:21

It’s a business. If people forget, it’s a business. She can go online all day and say that she cares about people. And she does this for people and she wants to help people. But it’s not a nonprofit. Right? She’s suing me for loss of income.  It’s a business.

Kiki Monique  31:36

Do you? Do you have fears that this is going to drag on for years and years? Where do you go from here? Like I just like, where do you go? Like, also, like, let’s say this goes all the wrong ways. And let’s say that you ended up getting a judgment of $750,000. Like, for me, I would literally, like pass out like, I know that I would like it would be the end like, but like what happens? Like, if that happens, like, do you? Can you move forward?

Emily Gellis  32:08

That’s never gonna happen. I mean, if you’re like, if you’re a lawyer, and you really like reading the case, like there’s, there’s no land where that happens. I mean, honestly, what I think is gonna happen is that the judge is going to laugh and say this case is ridiculous. And even if I did slander her, which I didn’t, but even if I did, she slandered me back. So it’s like, you know, she’s talked a lot of shit about me online. So I think it’s going to end up fighting over who’s going to pay whose legal bills, so who wins, the lawyers, and who loses the victims. You know, sucks. That’s sad.

Kiki Monique  32:42

Lawyers always win.

Hoja Lopez  32:44

You should have been a lawyer. How did how did the people around you like how was everyone reacting? Like is? Are they tired of it? Are they like, totally there with you? Like, what’s going on with your support network? Like, how are you keeping up?

Emily Gellis  32:59

Yeah, I mean, there’s definitely tired of it. But also they know and they understand and like, you know, they want to see it through also, like, this is kind of the beginning. This to me, this wave is the beginning of the end, like this wondery won’t be the last thing this won’t be over. But this is the final hump, in my opinion, to get law enforcement involved to get government regulation involved to actually make change. I gotta make a little bit more noise to do so. But I’m willing to make that sacrifice in order to do it.

Kiki Monique  33:29

Well, Emily, I’m gonna say thank you for joining.

Emily Gellis  33:33

Thank you for having me.

Kiki Monique  33:35

I know that this won’t be the end I know that my followers are still want even more even though we gave them like this whole hour of you. They’re still gonna be like, but I want more. I want to hear more side. And, you know, again, like obviously, you know, look, Not to make light of it. But this is, this is my real housewives and this, I’m gonna carry it on. So thank you for joining Emily. Everyone can find you at @EmilyGellis on IG, anywhere else?

Emily Gellis  34:03

That’s my main stick. Instagram.

Kiki Monique  34:06

Well, thank you so much, Emily.

Emily Gellis  34:08

Thanks, guys.

Mohanad Elshieky  34:10

Thank you so much.

Mohanad Elshieky  34:16

Okay, well, now it’s time for my favorite segment that we do every week, which is sorry, not sorry, where we either demand that apology of from someone or we apologize. And this week, I’m going to start with Hoja, like always.

Hoja Lopez  34:28

This week, like Kiki last week, this week, I have to apologize to myself. We are really truly our own inner saboteurs. You know, I have to apologize to myself because I’ve noticed a pattern in the past like, I don’t know 30something years of my life where I struggled to return things that don’t fit me or that I don’t want, right? And so I ordered these things. And then I’m like, oh, I’m gonna try it on and then I tried on it doesn’t work and guess whose packages just sit unreturned in like my little foyer area to the point where like, now I’m out of that money because I just didn’t return it. And now I have these pieces of clothing that I don’t actually like. And I just truly need to get my shit together. And I need to send that shit back. So I made a commitment with myself yesterday, essentially to like try to send it back at the very moment that like I received them if I don’t like them. So I really want to try to hold myself to that this is not New Year’s, so I can’t call this a resolution, but I can call it a pinky promise from Hoja. And that’s it. I’m sorry Hoja, I’m sorry. You deserve that money back. And I feel to get it.

Kiki Monique  35:45

I’m looking at outfit right now that I did not like I don’t want to wear but it’s well past the 45 days and I’m stuck with it now.

Mohanad Elshieky  35:55

So what about you Kiki? What’s happening with you this week?

Kiki Monique  35:58

You know what, I had sort of let this go. But I just like, I don’t know if it was just this week in particular, it was really bothering me because I had all the windows open. And it just was like, even more egregious. But my new neighbor, you know, I love my neighborhood. You know, I’m trying to like, you know, get to know my neighbors and be one of those people that actually knows their neighbor. Because in New York, I never knew my neighbors right. You know, I feel like something about California me wants to know my neighbors a little bit more. But there’s this one neighbor and he has a motorcycle. You know how I feel like the sound of motorcycles just really get under my skin in a way I can’t explain it. And every morning like clockwork, he revs his motorcycle right outside the window, which is like, and just like, […] before he takes off, and I’m just like, But why is it necessary?

Mohanad Elshieky  36:49

I actually think that’s the only reason they have those motorcycles is for like, they just fucking love those noises. Like when someone has like a BMW, and you see them on the highway. They have to let you know that makes that noise. And I’m just like, yeah, we are aware. We’ve heard that before. Like, I just want to know who does this impress? Like, in their minds, like someone like, you’re just like at 7am you just wake up and you’re like, oh my god, this is so fucking.

Kiki Monique  37:16

I think it just impresses other motorcycle riders and other you know, Hot Rod driver. Like it’s like the only people who get turned on with that.

Hoja Lopez  37:24

I know who it startles. I know who it scares. I know who it annoys. And that’s me. But impress is not the word that I would use. 100%

Mohanad Elshieky  37:34

No, absolutely not. It’s definitely not impressive if he if you ride a motorcycle. I mean, I’m glad you’re getting to places quicker than other people, I guess. But stop.

Hoja Lopez  37:47

I think that’s a fair assessment.

Mohanad Elshieky  37:49

Well, speaking of transportation, I know we’ve talked maybe like a week or two ago about like, how people would listen to stuff out loud on the subway and that we hate that. Or sometimes they do it at the beach where they just play volume. It’s just like the volume is like out loud and everyone has to hear what they’re doing. I unfortunately need to apologize because I have done that last week. What did you do? I had my airpods on and I thought what I was listening to was from my airport, but it was not. It was my phone. It was my phone. I was listening straight from my phone speaker on the subway. And here’s the worst part. I wish at least people around me were like, okay, at least he’s listening to these cool songs that we like, and he’s sharing with us. No, no, it was an audio book. Oh, God. Now everyone thinks I’m an asshole. Also pretentious. I’m just like, looking at me at getting a knowledge. It was the surveillance in the age of capitalism.

Kiki Monique  39:01

You’re such a pretentious asshole.

Hoja Lopez  39:03

I thought you’re gonna say Peppa Pig.

Mohanad Elshieky  39:09

This is the funny part. It’s called the it’s called the age of surveillance capitalism. That’s the name of the book. And it’s so funny to me because I’m reading about that. I’m reading about surveillance and how you know, like these companies like surveil you and like, your information being shared with the public and I was literally just doing that I was volunteering, what I was doing with the public of New York City, and I would like to apologize to everyone.

Kiki Monique  39:36

Imagining how loud your phone must have been for you thinking it’s coming through the airpods like the phone had to be pretty damn loud.

Mohanad Elshieky  39:46

It was loud and it’s so funny because like you can like, it was like, you know, I was like wearing a mask on the train. I was like doing like minding my own. I was doing all of these things that you do to protect those people around you, but for some reason that was the hell I was dying on which is turning my volume on my phone and having everyone listen to it, so people can not even assess what kind of person I was. But hey, if you’re on the train and you know your headphones are on make sure that it’s not you know it’s not your phone and listen to this podcast continue listening to it on the train and maybe you know what, play on the speaker/

Kiki Monique  40:26

If you are listening to our podcast blast it loud let everyone hear and be like what are you listening to? Well, three of the funniest people I fucking now.

Hoja Lopez  40:37

That’s right Kiki.

Kiki Monique  40:42

I’M SORRY is a Lemonada Media Original. The show is produced by Alex McOwen, supervising producer is Kryssy Pease. Our executive producers are Stephanie Wittels Wachs and Jessica Cordova Kramer. Our mix is by Kat Yore and theme music was composed by Xander Singh. If you like this show, please rate and review. And please don’t cancel us. You can find out more about our show at @LemonadaMedia on all social platforms, or follow us on Instagram at @imsorry_podcast. We’ll be back next week and until then be nice, play fair and always say I’m sorry. Thanks for listening!

 

Spoil Your Inbox

Pods, news, special deals… oh my.