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“Hope The Guy Presses Charges”: Gym-Goer’s Controversial Locker Room Selfie Exposes Unwitting Man
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“Hope The Guy Presses Charges”: Gym-Goer’s Controversial Locker Room Selfie Exposes Unwitting Man

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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.

Highlights
  • 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.”

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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.

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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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Andréa Oldereide

Andréa Oldereide

Writer, BoredPanda staff

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I’m a journalist who works as Bored Panda’s News Team's Senior Writer. The news team produces stories focused on pop culture. Whenever I get the opportunity and the time, I investigate and produce my own exclusive stories, where I get to explore a wider range of topics. Some examples include: “Doberman Tobias the viral medical service dog” and “The lawyer who brought rare uterine cancer that affects 9/11 victims to light”. You've got a tip? email me: andrea.o@boredpanda.com

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Andréa Oldereide

Andréa Oldereide

Writer, BoredPanda staff

I’m a journalist who works as Bored Panda’s News Team's Senior Writer. The news team produces stories focused on pop culture. Whenever I get the opportunity and the time, I investigate and produce my own exclusive stories, where I get to explore a wider range of topics. Some examples include: “Doberman Tobias the viral medical service dog” and “The lawyer who brought rare uterine cancer that affects 9/11 victims to light”. You've got a tip? email me: andrea.o@boredpanda.com

Karina Babenok

Karina Babenok

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As a visual editor in the News team, I look for the most interesting pictures and comments to make each post interesting and informative through images, so that you aren't reading only blocks of text. I joined Bored Panda not that long ago, but in this short amount of time I have covered a wide range of topics: from true crime to Taylor Swift memes (my search history is very questionable because of that).In my freetime, I enjoy spending time at the gym, gaming, binging Great British Bake Off and adding yet another tattoo artist that I would love to get a tattoo from to my pinterest board.

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Karina Babenok

Karina Babenok

Author, BoredPanda staff

As a visual editor in the News team, I look for the most interesting pictures and comments to make each post interesting and informative through images, so that you aren't reading only blocks of text. I joined Bored Panda not that long ago, but in this short amount of time I have covered a wide range of topics: from true crime to Taylor Swift memes (my search history is very questionable because of that).In my freetime, I enjoy spending time at the gym, gaming, binging Great British Bake Off and adding yet another tattoo artist that I would love to get a tattoo from to my pinterest board.

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Gwyn
Community Member
6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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.

Debbie
Community Member
6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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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Kylie
Community Member
6 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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.

SadieCat17 (she/her)
Community Member
6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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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Gwyn
Community Member
6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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.

Debbie
Community Member
6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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...
Kylie
Community Member
6 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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.

SadieCat17 (she/her)
Community Member
6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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...
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