A well-known fitness influencer has been permanently barred from all branches of a worldwide gym franchise due to complaints from patrons about her excessive mirror selfies.
Edda Pilz, also known as Edda Elisa in the online sphere, had her membership at John Reed Fitness terminated abruptly after four years of being a regular at the international gym chain.
The 25-year-old German influencer discovered the ban when her access card was suddenly deactivated and later received a letter from the gym notifying her of a global ban from all John Reed Gyms except those in Switzerland.
Reportedly, the action was taken following grievances from fellow gym-goers accusing Edda of monopolizing the mirrors with her constant photo-taking and breaching gym policies regarding filming and privacy.
Contrary to the official explanation, the influencer believes that jealousy from other female members led to her ban, alleging that they were offended by her mirror poses due to her substantial social media following.
With 649,000 followers on TikTok and 551,000 on Instagram, Edda addressed the situation on TikTok, questioning the gym’s actions by pointing out that the official John Reed account reposts mirror photos from other members as well.
Additionally, Edda made baseless allegations that the gym prioritized penalizing her over addressing instances of sexual harassment involving members, without providing any evidence to support her claims.
In response to Edda’s statements, the gym chain confirmed to German media outlet RTL that her contract was terminated immediately due to repeated violations of their rules, with prior warnings issued to her.
The chain declined to disclose specific infractions. Allegedly, a gym member in a WhatsApp group described Edda as having the intelligence of a 10-year-old and suggested that reasoning with her was futile.
Although each John Reed branch can establish its own enforceable rules, the gym chain has not clarified whether mirror selfies are explicitly prohibited. Edda expressed that her increasing online prominence posed an issue despite her previous trouble-free gym attendance.
This incident adds to a series of controversies surrounding the influencer. In late June, Edda claimed she was denied boarding a flight due to her gym attire being deemed too revealing during a heatwave, as reported by creatorzine.com.
Wearing tight sports attire in hot weather, Edda was allegedly refused entry onto a Lufthansa flight. According to her account, an employee informed her that she appeared naked and instructed her to wear a jacket, which she did by zipping it up before being allowed to board successfully.
Edda, who resides in Berlin and has appeared on German reality TV shows like Ex on the Beach and Sommerhaus der Stars, faced no further obstacles after complying with the airline’s requirements.
