Dumb Bells: Puregym apologises for slavery workout
Puregym has apologised “unreservedly” after one of its branches promoted a “slavery” workout to celebrate Black History Month.
In a Facebook post the Luton and Dunstable gym said “slavery was hard and so is this” as it shared its “workout of the month”.
The gym operator said the post was removed “as soo it was brought to our attention”.
The “12 years of Slave”, after the award-winning film with a similar name, included 12 different moves including push ups, burpees and squats.
The now-deleted post read: “Entitled ’12YearsOfSlave’ (after the epic movie) this is our workout of the month designed by @mattsimpt to celebrate black history month. Slavery was hard and so is this.”
After the post sparked outrage online, Puregym apologised “unreservedly” for the post.
In a statement on Twitter Puregym said: “This post was wholly unacceptable, was not approved or endorsed by the company and was removed when it was brought to our attention.”
“We take this matter extremely seriously and are urgently investigating how and why this post was made.”
The UK’s largest gym operator thanked those who had raised the issue, adding: “We take this matter extremely seriously and are urgently investigating how and why this post was made.”
The Labour MP for Luton North, Sarah Owen, said the “offensive” advert shows “exactly why we need Black History Month and why the Black Lives Matter movement is important.”
Black History Month is an annual celebration of the history and achievements of black people in the UK, first celebrated in London in October 1987.