Four more women accuse Tony Robbins of sexual misconduct, including one who says he pressed her hand against his genitals, as the self help guru furiously denies the allegations

  • A total of nine women say Robbins behaved inappropriately towards them 
  • Four more went on the record to accuse Robbins in an article for BuzzFeed News
  • Kimberly Stokes, a former live-in assistant, says Robbins walked into her bathroom while she showered and exposed himself to her 
  • Sophiah Koikas says that during a seminar in Hawaii in the early 1990s, Robbins grabbed her hand and pressed it against his penis and then groped her breast 
  • Mary Lantz alleges that during a seminar in Cleveland in the early 1990s, Robbins hugged her, kissed her on the cheek, and cupped her breast
  • Lucie Galvez says that during a job interview with Robbins, he asked her if she felt comfortable with him and his then-girlfriend being naked
  • Robins denied every allegation, calling some 'preposterous', in a Medium article published in full below
  • He also released a statement on YouTube on Wednesday, saying that BuzzFeed was 'flat-out lying'
  • But he also said he 'never claimed to be perfect' and that he apologized if he 'offended anybody, hurt anyone's feelings, or anything of that nature' 

Four more women came forward on Wednesday to accuse Tony Robbins of sexual misconduct. He has denied all the claims

Four more women came forward on Wednesday to accuse Tony Robbins of sexual misconduct. He has denied all the claims 

Four more women now say self-help expert Anthony Robbins made inappropriate sexual advances, including groping and exposing himself, starting in the 1980s.

A total of nine women have now come forward and alleged that Robbins behaved inappropriately toward them by either making sexual advances or undressing in front of them, according to BuzzFeed News.

Kimberly Stokes, a former staffer who worked as a live-in personal assistant for Robbins when she was 22 years old, alleges that he once walked into her bathroom while she was showering and ‘dropped his towel.’

Stokes says Robbins exposed himself to her even though she had already rejected his advances before.

Another woman, Sophiah Koikas, said she attended one of Robbins’ seminars in Hawaii in the early 1990s.

She alleges that during the event, Robbins pulled her hand toward his genitals and groped her breast.

Mary Lantz alleges that Robbins sexually harassed her at an event in Ohio.

Robbins told Lantz that she was ‘driving him crazy’ and that he hugged her, kissed her, and touched her breast, according to BuzzFeed.

Lucie Galvez, fourth accuser, said she interviewed for a personal assistant job around 2001, when she was in her early twenties.

During the interview, she alleges that Robbins asked her: ‘How do you feel about nudity?’

Galvez alleges that Robbins told her that the job would require working in close quarters with him and his then-girlfriend, and that the couple may be naked at time.

Robbins posted a YouTube video on Wednesday from Australia, where he is hosting an event. He accused BuzzFeed of ¿flat-out lying,¿ though he did say that he was a ¿better human being than I was in my twenties and thirties.¿

Robbins posted a YouTube video on Wednesday from Australia, where he is hosting an event. He accused BuzzFeed of ‘flat-out lying,’ though he did say that he was a ‘better human being than I was in my twenties and thirties.’

Galvez told BuzzFeed that she thought the interview was ‘sexually inappropriate, almost predatory.’

‘It felt like I was getting interviewed for sexual threesomes as opposed to an assistant’s job,’ she said.

Robbins posted a YouTube video on Wednesday from Australia, where he is hosting an event.

He accused BuzzFeed of ‘flat-out lying,’ though he did say that he was a ‘better human being than I was in my twenties and thirties.’

He also apologized to anyone who may have been offended by his behavior.

‘I’ve never claimed to be perfect and if there’s anything I’ve ever said or ever done that, sincerely, that offended anybody, hurt anyone’s feelings, or if they felt anything of that nature, I just didn’t support you, I apologize,’ he said.

‘It was certainly not my intention.’

Robbins’ attorneys said their client ‘absolutely denies’ the allegations and ‘specifically denies that he engaged in any of the alleged conduct’ with the four women.

The attorneys said there were no records showing that the women brought forth ‘any type of verbal or written complaint’ with the company.

Stokes told BuzzFeed that she started working for Robbins in 1988.

She said she fled home after suffering abuse as a child and was homeless at age 14.

Stokes said she sold family heirloom jewelry to buy a plane ticket to one of Robbins’ events.

She then got a job with Robbins, which required her to live with him and his then-wife in their home in San Diego.

‘Tony knew my whole background, so when he was taking advantage or when he was being inappropriate, he understood the scope of what was going on,’ she said.

The first time Robbins hit on Stokes was when he took her into his helicopter to a mountain, she alleges.

When the helicopter landed, Robbins told her he thought she was ‘really attractive,’ she said.

He also inquired about her romantic life.

According to Stokes, they briefly kissed, but she refused to go further. She says she told him that she did not want to go behind his wife’s back.

While Stokes now says she ‘may have got hired for the wrong reasons, she kept working at his home.

A month later, she says she was showering in her bathroom at Robbins’ home.

Stokes alleges that when she pulled back the curtain, she saw Robbins standing there in a towel.

She alleges that Robbins then dropped the towel and exposed himself. She said she was ‘freaking out’ and shouted at him to leave.

‘I was furious, because it broke trust,’ she told BuzzFeed News.

‘I don’t bull***t. If I said no, I meant no.’

Two former staffers of Robbins, both men, said Stokes told them about the incident shortly after it happened, according to BuzzFeed News.

The ex-staffers declined to be named.

Stokes said she felt ‘caught’ because she was in California by herself with no family to rely on and no savings.

Eight months after the alleged incident, she says she was fired for throwing a ‘wild party,’ which she denies doing.

‘I felt retraumatized,’ she said.

‘I did all of this to save myself and here I was in the middle of nowhere.’

Stokes said she decided to speak out about her experiences with Robbins because ‘I just want him to stop his behavior towards women and I don’t want anybody else to be hurt.’

Robbins’ lawyers denied Stokes’ allegations. They cited her website, in which she describes her time working for Robbins in a positive light.

Koikas said Robbins grabbed her hand and pressed it against his genitals during a seminar in Hawaii in the early 1990s.

She said Robbins walked by a group of fans and started shaking their hands.

‘When he took mine he pushed it against his penis,’ she told BuzzFeed News.

‘It freaked me out. ... I tried to pull my hand away as fast as I could, but he had a grip on my hand so tight and he wouldn't let go.’

At a firewalk during the seminar, Koikas alleges that Robbins groped her breast instead of touching her shoulder like he did with other participants.

‘He cupped my whole left breast, grabbed it, and then shook it,’ Koikas alleges.

She says that during the event, one of Robbins’ aides approached her.

‘Tony thinks you’re cute,’ she says she was told.

‘Would you like to know him and meet him?’

Koikas declined, saying she thought Robbins was married.

She said that while she was upset by what Robbins did, she signed up for another event a few years later.

‘At the time, we didn’t talk about these issues,’ she said.

‘We just thought he was a weird creep.’

Koikas says she declined to tell anyone in her family what happened to her so as not to worry them.

A friend of Koikas told BuzzFeed that she confided in her two years ago about Robbins allegedly groping her breast and pressing her hand to his penis.

Koikas told BuzzFeed News she could not recall the exact dates, but she did provide event photos and a letter from another participate which were dated September 9, 1991.

Robbins’ lawyers denied Koikas’ allegations. They cited YouTube videos showing her posing by a tree in a long dress as evidence that her ‘reliability’ was in question.

Lantz said that she attended one of Robbins’ seminars in Cleveland around 1990.

Sophiah Koikas (above) said she attended one of Robbins¿ seminars in Hawaii in the early 1990s. She alleges that during the event, Robbins pulled her hand toward his genitals and groped her breast

Sophiah Koikas (above) said she attended one of Robbins’ seminars in Hawaii in the early 1990s. She alleges that during the event, Robbins pulled her hand toward his genitals and groped her breast

She claims that during the event, Robbins spotted her in the crowd, walked up to her, picked her up, and swung her around.

When the seminar went on a break, Lantz alleges that Robbins left the stage and called her over.

‘He put his arm around me and he said - and I will never forget it - “Will you come and sit in the front row of my seminar every time? Because you’re driving me crazy”,’ she said.

Lantz alleges that at this point Robbins pulled her toward him in a hug, kissed her on the cheek, and wrapped his arm around her so that it was cupping the side of her breast.

‘The whole thing was creepy,’ she said.

‘I was in amazement that he would do that in front of thousands of people.

‘I felt like it was sexual harassment.

‘We didn’t have that word back then but I felt he was hitting on me.’

After the seminar, Lantz says one of Robbins’ employees came running up to her and told her that the life coach wanted her to join him for dinner.

She says she told the man she wasn’t hungry and went home.

Lantz says she called a friend, Robert Tackett, that same night she returned home and told him what happened.

Tackett confirmed to BuzzFeed News that Lantz called him to say ‘she was constantly being approached and hit on by Mr. Robbins.’

‘I was concerned, and I tried to console her,’ he said.

‘She was very upset about how things went.’

Lantz claims she wrote a letter of complaint to Robbins’ company months later, but Robbins’ lawyers say they have no records of receiving such a complaint.

In 2001, Galvez says she was interviewed for a personal assistant position with Robbins after she attended one of his events.

‘His level of questions were just, whoa…’ Galvez said.

‘I remember him asking me, “How do you feel about nudity?” and I thought, “Okay, this is taking an odd turn”.’

Galvez says Robbins told her that she would be working with him and his then-girlfriend, and that she might see them ‘in the nude.’

She says that during the interview, Robbins asked her how she would feel if she saw him and his girlfriend in the shower or sleeping naked.

Robbins allegedly told her that she was ‘blushing.’

‘I think, looking back, he enjoyed the shock value,’ Galvez told BuzzFeed News.

‘Absolutely it was a sexually inappropriate interview, it was almost predatory…

‘They’re telling you all the glamour of the job, the perks, how you’d be treated like royalty, all of that.

‘I see how he chose very young, impressionable people who he could mold.’

Galvez says she grew so uncomfortable with the interview that she turned down the job when Robbins offered it to her.

In November 2014, Galvez wrote an email to a friend describing the interview with Robbins, according to BuzzFeed News.

Galvez says she decided to come forward after Robbins released a statement last week saying he was never ‘intentionally naked’ in front of staffers.

She says Robbins was ‘making the women with the courage to speak out come across as liars.’

‘I felt a responsibility to step up and defend what they’re claiming,’ she said.

‘I know my own personal experience resonates with what they claim.’

Last week, Robbins was accused by former audience members and employees of berating vulnerable audiences and sexually harassing staff. 

In a lengthy article on Friday, BuzzFeed cited anonymous accusers who say Robbins showered in front of them, scorned audience participants during arena shows where they had gone for help and asked bouncers to scour crowds looking for attractive women. 

The 59-year-old angrily hit back with his own article on Medium where he denied all of the allegations and said he had been unfairly pursued by the news outlet for a year. 

His lawyers also batted away all of BuzzFeed's claims, saying they were made up or came from discredited, disgruntled former employees including women who were 'obsessed' with him and had to be let go from the company because of it.  

The sexual harassment claims are related to alleged incidents which happened before he married his second wife, Sage. 

Robbins, who counts the Kardashians, Serena Williams and Oprah among his many celebrity fans, has spoken openly in the past about having consensual relationships. 

Among the accusations are secret recordings from shows, obtained covertly by people who had agreed not to film any of it in disclaimers beforehand. 

At one 2018 show, Robbins allegedly told a woman who described being abused by her husband that he had 'had to put up with her being a crazy b***ch'.

He also said she was 'lying'.   That woman said afterwards that she was grateful for the experience and did not find it to be damaging. 

Robbins is shown on stage during one of his shows. They are rarely taped or photographed and he asks audiences to sign disclaimers before entering promising that they will not film

Robbins is shown on stage during one of his shows. They are rarely taped or photographed and he asks audiences to sign disclaimers before entering promising that they will not film 

He also told the crowd the hadn't been in love unless they'd thought about killing their partner, according to a leaked transcript of the show that BuzzFeed published. 

In 2003, after a show in Australia, he allegedly boasted to staff about telling a woman who claimed she had been raped that she was using it to 'manipulate'. 

'I don’t support anybody f*****g raping her or taking advantage of her but I don’t support her f******g manipulating herself, men, and other people by trying to use that tool when it’s really not the primary experience of her life now,' he said. 

He boasted that he cut her off in a 'warm', 'elegant', 'fantastic' way.  

The tactics were slammed by abusive specialists and experts who spoke to BuzzFeed and called his unorthodox messages damaging but the women themselves have not spoken out in complaint.  

Two assistants claimed they were forced to be in the same room as him while he showered or was naked.  

'He would call you into the bathroom with him. "Hey come here, I need you to make a note of something,"' one, who declined to be named but said she worked with him for 18 months in the 1990s, said.  

'He just didn't care, he was too powerful,' she added.  

I don’t support anybody f*****g raping her or taking advantage of her but I don’t support her f******g manipulating herself, men, and other people by trying to use that tool 
What Robbins told an audience member in 2003 

She claimed that he once came out of the bathroom and dropped his towel in front of her in a hotel room.

She said she ran out in tears and that she had wanted to share her story before, using her full name, but that she was afraid of him. 

Kate Ritasse, another assistant who went into the bathroom to take notes said she did not think it was abusive or inappropriate, just 'strange'.

'My job would be to get him out of bed in the morning so I’d wake up and pull his naked butt out of bed. 

'I had to get his naked butt into the shower and into his suit. I guess some people would think it was weird. 

'Yes I could be a victim, I could go down the victim road but I just chose not to,' she said, standing by him. 

Gary King, a former long-term employee, said he had seen audience members become mentally ill and unstable after his Date With Destiny Shows. He said he became sensitive to it after the suicide of his son.  

One former employee, who did not want to be named, said he immediately called her 'beautiful' when she started working for him. 

 My job would be to get him out of bed in the morning so I’d wake up and pull his naked butt out of bed. 'I had to get his naked butt into the shower and into his suit. I guess some people would think it was weird....Yes I could be a victim, I could go down the victim road but I just chose not to
Former employee Kate Ritasse 

The woman started working for him in the late 90s. 

She said that over the course of the next few years, he encouraged her to end two relationships and offered to fly her places to see him. 

During one show, she said he told a crowd to simulate having an orgasm then leaned over to her and said: 'I want to see you having an orgasm.' 

She told BuzzFeed that the more she rejected him, the more he pursued her. 

'It’s part of what he teaches: Go after what you want. 

'And he wants to acquire you as a woman,' she said. 

Former employee Gary King said he became worried about Robbin's unorthodox methods on vulnerable audience members

Former employee Gary King said he became worried about Robbin's unorthodox methods on vulnerable audience members 

His lawyers dismissed her claims as 'preposterous'. 

A different woman claims to have had an affair with him that she said ended when his then-wife, Becky, became suspicious of it. 

That woman, who called herself 'J', was fired, she claims without explanation, afterwards by King. 

Robbins made headlines last year after being filmed covertly by someone in the audience of one of his shows slamming the #MeToo movement. 

He was heard saying: 'If you use the #MeToo movement to try to get significance and certainty by attacking and destroying someone else, you haven't grown an ounce.

'All you've done is basically use a drug called significance to make yourself feel good.' 

He apologized afterwards. 

He has a religious-like following, with many of his fans crediting him with saving their lives after his shows.  

ROBBINS' REBUTTAL TO BUZZFEED

This letter is one that I would have preferred not to write.

I have been the target of a year-long investigation by BuzzFeed. Unfortunately, your organization has made it clear to my team that you intend to move forward with publishing an inaccurate, agenda-driven version of the past, pierced with falsehoods. It is intended to disparage me personally, my family, my life's work, and the efforts of the millions of individuals around the globe who have taken this journey with me over the last 40-plus years.

To put it in the words of your own reporters, you are preparing to publish an article with the malicious intent to 'take Tony Robbins down.'

You have denied my team's requests to meet with you in-person to present key evidence that contradicts your false allegations. You do not seek the truth; you seek to further your own agenda.

After more than a year-long investigation by your online entertainment company, you allege that approximately 20–30 years ago — when I was in my 20's and early 30's — I was negligent with both my employees and individuals who chose to attend my seminars. You also allege (through anonymous sources) that I pursued conflicting intimate relationships. Your claims range from indistinct to ridiculous.

We have evidence to prove that your reporters rejected and otherwise ignored factual accounts from several individuals you contacted. In some cases, those individuals were even harassed and lied to when their accounts did not align with Buzzfeed's predetermined thesis.

What stands out — even in today's sea of mis-representation and journalistic corner-cutting — is the 2014 report by the industry-standard, non-partisan, Pew Research Center which cites Buzzfeed as 'the least trusted news source' of them all. So, it stands to reason that you are presently facing financial, organizational, and management troubles. BuzzFeed is unapologetically fueling the current cultural divide by targeting well-known individuals with false allegations to boost its readership and serve its shareholders.

Let me be clear, while my open-classroom therapeutic methods are not for everyone, and while I am on my best day still only an imperfect human being, I have never behaved in the reckless, irresponsible, or malicious manner intimated by false, unfounded, and incendiary allegations suggested by BuzzFeed story-tellers.

Several individuals have contacted us to let us know that you attempted to manipulate their testimony and, in some cases, even ignored their legal counsel when they pointed out inaccuracies and mischaracterizations of their client's personal accounts at the hands of your reporters.

Why didn't you listen to what these individuals had to say and instead choose to proceed with inverted truths as your central narrative?

Your organization cannot claim objectivity or journalistic integrity when your written ethics and standards policy claims that in 'activism' issues 'there are not two sides.' As we all know, in the context of a just democracy, there are always two sides.

In my six decades on this earth, I've had the privilege to work with leaders like Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, Princess Diana, presidents of countries, and international companies, not to mention millions of dedicated human beings from over 100 countries around the world. Never in my life have I witnessed a cultural climate quite like the one we're living in today. This is an era marked by deeply-divided environments where click-bait headline news is designed to instigate a polarized public, grab their attention, and incite minds on constant-alert, waiting for the next notification to react to and believe the worst.

The foundation of what we teach in my seminars and audio programs hinges on understanding the power and impact of human belief systems, the importance of clarifying one's values, and the constant effect that language has in shaping our emotions and our lives.

To understand how our country's discourse has deteriorated into constant conflict, consider the world's foremost dictionaries recent Word of the Yearselections:

The very heart of my life's work is empowering others to find the TRUTH that sets them free — the honesty and authenticity to breakthrough and expand. For more than 40 years I've encouraged people to seek the tools of transformation to grow into the men and women they dream to be in order to live the fulfilling lives they envision for their highest self. Through the course of my career, more than 50 million people have utilized my teachings — this includes more than 4 million people who have attended live events in-person.

My record is nearly a half-century long. I stand on that.

We need to start having a different nature of conversations in a very different way. Real change is nothing but finding new patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving that meets our collective needs on a deeper level than the previous pattern. This current pattern is no longer serving our highest good. We demonize human beings for simply being human. If we learn from our mistakes we will evolve into better human beings.

Amidst all the divisiveness in the world today, I truly believe there is a yearning and a calling within all of us for a kinder way — a life of compassion, forgiveness, and a desire to live as brothers and sisters. I pray that, out of all of this, we can choose to unite rather than separate; to drop our judgments and criticisms, and look for the goodness in each other. We are all human beings doing the best we can. It's time we come together.

Millions of people have experienced life-changing breakthroughs and transformations on our journey of growth and I invite them to join me now to stop BuzzFeed and others from tearing our society down by denying and mischaracterizing the truth. Enough is enough.

-Tony Robbins

 

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Four more women accuse self-help guru Tony Robbins of sexual misconduct

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