The Scamfluencer Trial Has Been Postponed
Brittany Dawn vs. The state of Texas was slated to kick off on Monday
Disgraced fitness influencer turned ministry leader, Brittany Nelson’s trial in which she is being sued by the state of Texas was supposed to start on Monday, March 6. However, according to the Dallas Morning News, it has been postponed. Around the time this was announced, Brittany posted a video to YouTube, updating her followers on how she is coping with the anxiety.
Who is Brittany Dawn?
If you haven’t heard of Brittany Nelson aka Brittany Davis aka BDawnFit aka Brittany Dawn, congratulations on not having an eating disorder and/or not being in a cult! I first became aware of Brittany as @bdawnfit back when I was starving myself in college. I followed just about every female fitness influencer with a 23-inch waist and Brittany certainly fit the bill. At the time, she was known for marrying her high school sweetheart and attaining an ideal body type after years of battling yo-yo dieting and eating disorders.
Like most fitness influencers, Brittany developed a program without any formal education or credentials beginning in 2014, priced between $92 and $300. She branded herself an eating disorder expert and claimed that she had “special training” to help them cure their illnesses.
Things began to unravel when dissatisfied customers began to congregate in a Facebook group called “Brittany Dawn Fitness Business Complaints” in 2018. They accused her of providing generic plans rather than customized ones and providing equally general advice as opposed to true guidance, support, and instruction as they were led to believe they would receive.
The Fallout
Brittany’s follower count began to dwindle, then she released a now-deleted apology video on her YouTube channel. Then, she went on Good Morning America to reinforce her condolences and own up to her “mistake.” Ultimately, she lost hundreds of thousands of followers and was sued by the state of Texas for deceiving customers with eating disorders.
The Lawsuit
On Feb. 1, 2022, Texas attorney general Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against Brittany and her company, Brittany Dawn Fitness LLC in Dallas County. The majority of the customers involved in the case have histories of eating disorders and report things such as “almost passing out,” etc. while Brittany “largely ignored” the complaints.
Brittany’s Response
A pivot in content
Brittany, who divorced her high school sweetheart began to transition to Christian content and has slowly begun acquiring a following once again. According to BuzzFeed Internet Culture Reporter Kelsey Weekman, “her Instagram following dropped from 573,000 at the peak of her fitness career in August 2018 to 420,000 in February 2021 when the lawsuit was filed. Now it’s back up to 472,000.”
As Kelsey also points out, many question her motivation for choosing to create content geared toward Christians whose philosophy is so heavily rooted in forgiveness. She also takes advantage of the strong language involving “enemies” and “demons.”
A second marriage
Brittany married her second husband Jordan Nelson on Sept. 18, 2021, a former police officer who was sued by the ACLU in 2013 for using excessive force against an unarmed Black man.
About a month after their nuptials, Brittany posted a video to her YouTube channel entitled, “my heart is shattered... my dog died in a hit and run...” in which she discloses that her husband shot their dog Brodie after he was hit by a car.
Infertility Issues & Foster Parenthood
On her social media, Brittany has shared very openly about her struggles to conceive and aspirations to become a foster parent. She first began posting about her desire to foster a baby in late 2022, and posting about purchasing baby supplies.
Due to her current standing with the state of Texas, Redditors believed this couldn’t possibly be true, but lo and behold, Brittany and Jordan claimed to receive a baby on Dec. 12, 2022. It appeared that they had custody of this baby for a few weeks, and received a second on Feb. 23 that departed from the home last week.
No remorse
In addition to her digital religious content, Brittany now also hosts workshops and retreats under her ministry called She Lives Freed, where she actually baptizes attendees in a feeding trough.
Other than her now-deleted apology video, Brittany has not shown any ounce of sympathy toward the thousands of people she scammed and harmed. In fact, she often frames herself as the victim in her social media posts and has recently leaned into speaking out against cyberbullying.
Dallas court officials have not announced a new trial date yet. Stay tuned for more info!
Sources:
Kelsey Weekman, BuzzFeed
r/brittanydawnsnark