Infamous America - Introducing "Fed Up" from Wondery

Episode Date: July 25, 2022

When Emily Gellis hears rumors of people suffering horrible side effects from a trendy diet, she springs into action. Armed with over a hundred thousand Instagram followers, Emily launches a social media crusade to expose F-Factor and its founder, Tanya Zuckerbrot. It’s the start of a feud that will attract trolls, lawyers, and, eventually, national media all because of fiber. From Wondery, this is a story about wealth, wellness, and influence hosted by Casey Wilson. Listen to Fed Up: http://wondery.fm/IA_FEDUP  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is one of the questions of our era. When you're scrolling through social media, how can you tell what's real? Misinformation can be dangerous, especially when it's related to your health. Anything can be posted online without being fact-checked. But if you heard about the secret to permanent weight loss, wouldn't you give it a follow? Tanya Zuckerbrot, founder of the trendy high-fiber F-Factor diet, has celebrity followers including Megan Kelly and supermodel Olivia Culpo. Tanya has a nice house, nice husband, and nice vacations, a very aspirational lifestyle.

But allegations of troubling side effects with the diet began to surface, and people started to question, is she selling powder or power? Emily Gellis, a popular fashion influencer, saw these allegations and criticized the diet to her own large social media following. In fact, that's an understatement. She launched a crusade to expose Tanya and the F-Factor diet. Emily thought bringing awareness to the claims would be enough, but that was just the beginning. What started as an online feud escalated into real-world threats, lawsuits, and a mess of drama. You're about to hear a preview of Fed Up. Listen to Fed Up on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, or Spotify, or you can listen early and ad-free by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondry app.

A summer in Manhattan, there is nothing quite like it. And on this August day in 2018, it's the usual 1,400 degrees and the rats are living their best lives. The sidewalk outside Chipriani downtown is packed with people having a good time, hanging out, enjoying $30 salads. A waiter brings out a piece of cake with a candle on it and delivers it to one of the tables. My friend sends over the cake with the candle, like they're pretty like white meringue. cake that they're like kind of famous for. That's the almost birthday girl herself, Emily Gellis.

And before I go to blow out the candle, I say something like, oh, I need to get an Instagram for this. Like I need to like record this like, influencer life. Influencer life. At the sound of those two words, the woman sitting at the table next to her pricks up her and said to me like, oh, I heard you say you're an influencer. This woman has long, dark brown hair and blindingly white teeth. And what do you know?

She's an influencer too. She was like, oh, so-and-so, I do this diet. I was like, oh, cool. And then we took a video together because I think she wanted me to post that she was eating pasta or something. I bumped into it at lunch. The queen of F-Factor Nutrition and they're eating pasta. The Queen of F-Factor Nutrition does a double jazz hand. She said a wave, blows a kiss, and holds up her plate of pasta for the camera.

Because you can be happy and F F F-Factor and e-pasta and live your best life ever. She giggles and the video ends. And that might have been it. A typical New York encounter. Except that two years later, these two New Yorkers, Emily and the Queen of F-Factor Nutrition, would be on opposite sides of a war of words. one that has spread from Instagram to the pages of national newspapers to the courtroom. And depending on which side you're on, it's either an attempt to silence the truth or the worst case of cancel culture in history.

And it all begins with fiber. Emily Gellis came for everyone. He came for anyone that was more successful than her. You are a powder-pushing, money-hungry, disgusting, gaslighting, greedy woman. These women don't care if they have truths. That's what's sick about them. Apologize to the people you got sick and move on with your life. You're sick. You are a sick, sick woman. Why threaten to kill my family over a diet? I have seen the devil. I have absolutely seen the devil. You've just heard a preview of Fed Up. Listen to the rest of the episode wherever

you get your podcasts.