“Hope The Guy Presses Charges”: Gym-Goer’s Controversial Locker Room Selfie Exposes Unwitting Man
Trigger warning: sexual assault
Fitness influencer and gym etiquette critic Joey Swoll took to his X page (formerly known as Twitter) on Thursday (May 2) to slam a man who took a mirror selfie in a changing room while a naked man was changing in the background.
“Don’t take photos in the locker room especially when people are changing,” Joey captioned the post, which featured a screenshot of the problematic photo.
- Joey Swoll criticized a man for taking a mirror selfie in a locker room with a naked man visible.
- The gym-goer's locker room selfie sparked outrage and calls for a ban due to privacy invasion.
- Joey, a fitness influencer, is known for calling out inappropriate gym behavior.
“I had to add the [red octagon emoji]. WTF is wrong with you? They need to ban you,” the bodybuilder added.
In the original post, the man posing in the changing room had captioned: “Can someone cut him out?” as the poor naked bloke was clearly visible next to him.
Fitness influencer Joey Swoll criticized a man for taking a mirror selfie in a changing room
Image credits: TheJoeySwoll
The now-viral photograph sparked outrage, as an X user commented: “‘Can someone cut him out?’ How about just don’t take your gym selfie in the locker room.
“This is illegal and distasteful.”
Another person wrote: “Hope the guy presses charges.”
Someone else added: “This dude is a clown and should be banned from the gym.”
Image credits: TheJoeySwoll
An additional commentator penned: “Why are people such narcissists that they need to post pictures of themselves on social media for likes??”
A separate individual chimed in: “Isn’t this actually even illegal?”
In the UK, taking pictures or recording videos in locker rooms without permission is generally considered illegal under the voyeurism laws.
In the USA, the laws regarding taking pictures in gym changing rooms vary by state, and there isn’t a federal law specifically addressing this issue.
The selfie included a naked person in the background, and as a result, Joey warned against such behavior
Image credits: TheJoeySwoll
Nevertheless, most popular gyms ban the act of taking pictures in locker rooms, as exemplified by Crunch Gym and Equinox.
Joey is notable for calling out controversial behaviors at the gym. But last month, the 41-year-old highlighted a different type of incident as he claimed he became the victim of a sexual assault by a woman.
In a now-deleted Instagram video posted on April 7, the Chicago native recalled: “Last week, I went to meet some friends out at a local bar in Costa Mesa.
“The bar was packed shoulder to shoulder.”
Image credits: TheJoeySwoll
“Trying to get through the crowd to my friends, I walked passed [sic] a group of young women.
“Not paying attention, I felt someone grab my chest.
“Thinking WTF I looked over to see one of the young women grabbing me saying, ‘Nice muscles, but how big’s your d*ck?’
“Before I could even say a word to her she reached down and grabbed my crotch.
“I froze and just stared at her.
“I was literally speechless.
“I didn’t know what to do.
“If that was a man I would have immediately hit him and defended myself, but I would never hit a woman.”
The gym-goer’s mirror selfie continued to ignite backlash on social media
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This has happened to me- young woman started taking selfies in the gym locker room while 3 other women were in various states of undress, I had just gotten out of the shower. These people are something else.
Did you adress this person or report it? I think most people are totally clueless about other, as they focus solely on themselves. I hope if you adressed her she would be very very embarrased.
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I don't CARE if you can "crop them out later". The point is you had a photo (without consent) of someone in an area that SHOULD have expectations of privacy from filming. If someone did this to me in a gym locker room the end results would not be pretty for the one with the phone.
He's taking the picture with an iphone. Those automatically upload pictures to cloud servers. Even if the person hadn't posted the image and even if he cropped it (apple saves image history), there would still be nude pictures of that innocent person on an external server without his consent. Very disgusting.
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A Playboy model pulled a similar stunt - with the goal of making fun of a 71-year-old woman in a shower for not being built like a 29-year-old Playboy model.
I remember that! Great karma kick in the a**! Banned from LA Fitness, Playboy dropped her like a hot potato, and had to do 30 days of graffiti removal service plus 3 years probation. Should have been so much more.
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And this is exactly why we have tight privacy laws in Germany. You would not be allowed to do that here.
I was SO surprised by how strict the laws are for you guys! A couple of years ago I had to drive across continental Europe and my Google map shows a grand total of 1 location between the entry- and exit points in Germany. Everywhere else, it's a collection of dots from the phone pinging.
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I love Joey Swoll, but Im horrified that Andy has discovered him. She now has another source of rage-bait.
I can see someone thinking it's OK to take a selfie then crop the picture to remove the people in the background. I don't think it's OK myself, but I could see someone making that argument. Obviously, that was not the case here. If I were the guy in the picture, I'd press charges in hopes of getting the selfie dude on the sex offenders' registry.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
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There are way to many like these, some even videos where you can hear people telling the person filming to stop and delete it and them arguing back. Why do you need to film/ take pictures of yourself at the gym? Don't they have mirrors at home? Only reason to film at a gym is to check your form, and even then most times there are mirrors or you could ask for some help. The only other reason I can think of is if something non-gym related happens. I hope the nude guy sues
"See how tough I am !!! Look at this bod ! So Narcissistic I miss a lot of things...".
Similar thing happened to me with some clown taking selfies in the SHOWERS! Several of us took his phone from him…
Cropping a photo is one of the easiest forms of photo editing and you can do it right on your phone - he needs to spend less time in the gym and a little more time learning how things in the world work. Still shouldn't have taken a photo in the gym locker room. My gym bans photos anywhere in the gym, there are prominent signs in the lockerroom and in the main gym area.
I work in a club, and taking pictures in the locker rooms will get your membership cancelled!
Hey Bored Panda, is Joey Swoll paying you for coverage or something?
This has happened to me- young woman started taking selfies in the gym locker room while 3 other women were in various states of undress, I had just gotten out of the shower. These people are something else.
Did you adress this person or report it? I think most people are totally clueless about other, as they focus solely on themselves. I hope if you adressed her she would be very very embarrased.
Load More Replies... I don't CARE if you can "crop them out later". The point is you had a photo (without consent) of someone in an area that SHOULD have expectations of privacy from filming. If someone did this to me in a gym locker room the end results would not be pretty for the one with the phone.
He's taking the picture with an iphone. Those automatically upload pictures to cloud servers. Even if the person hadn't posted the image and even if he cropped it (apple saves image history), there would still be nude pictures of that innocent person on an external server without his consent. Very disgusting.
Load More Replies... A Playboy model pulled a similar stunt - with the goal of making fun of a 71-year-old woman in a shower for not being built like a 29-year-old Playboy model.
I remember that! Great karma kick in the a**! Banned from LA Fitness, Playboy dropped her like a hot potato, and had to do 30 days of graffiti removal service plus 3 years probation. Should have been so much more.
Load More Replies... And this is exactly why we have tight privacy laws in Germany. You would not be allowed to do that here.
I was SO surprised by how strict the laws are for you guys! A couple of years ago I had to drive across continental Europe and my Google map shows a grand total of 1 location between the entry- and exit points in Germany. Everywhere else, it's a collection of dots from the phone pinging.
Load More Replies... I love Joey Swoll, but Im horrified that Andy has discovered him. She now has another source of rage-bait.
I can see someone thinking it's OK to take a selfie then crop the picture to remove the people in the background. I don't think it's OK myself, but I could see someone making that argument. Obviously, that was not the case here. If I were the guy in the picture, I'd press charges in hopes of getting the selfie dude on the sex offenders' registry.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Load More Replies... There are way to many like these, some even videos where you can hear people telling the person filming to stop and delete it and them arguing back. Why do you need to film/ take pictures of yourself at the gym? Don't they have mirrors at home? Only reason to film at a gym is to check your form, and even then most times there are mirrors or you could ask for some help. The only other reason I can think of is if something non-gym related happens. I hope the nude guy sues
"See how tough I am !!! Look at this bod ! So Narcissistic I miss a lot of things...".
Similar thing happened to me with some clown taking selfies in the SHOWERS! Several of us took his phone from him…
Cropping a photo is one of the easiest forms of photo editing and you can do it right on your phone - he needs to spend less time in the gym and a little more time learning how things in the world work. Still shouldn't have taken a photo in the gym locker room. My gym bans photos anywhere in the gym, there are prominent signs in the lockerroom and in the main gym area.
I work in a club, and taking pictures in the locker rooms will get your membership cancelled!
Hey Bored Panda, is Joey Swoll paying you for coverage or something?
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