New York-based content creator Liv Schmidt, founder of controversial brand The Skinni Societe, has ignited widespread condemnation after advising her substantial TikTok following to deliberately mislead overweight people with incorrect directions.
Controversial Comments Spark Immediate Backlash
The 25-year-old influencer, who boasts 700,000 followers on the platform, made the inflammatory statement in a video clip last week that has since been deleted. In the controversial footage, Schmidt declared, 'Being a girls girl is giving obese people the wrong directions so they walk more,' delivering the remark with a noticeable smirk.
The clip rapidly accumulated thousands of views before being removed, drawing immediate criticism from viewers who described the content as 'cruel,' 'tone deaf' and 'dangerous.' Many expressed particular concern about the young female demographic that regularly consumes Schmidt's content.
Public Outcry and Health Concerns
Social media users across multiple platforms voiced their disapproval of the influencer's comments. One TikTok user questioned the logic behind Schmidt's statement, asking: 'How do you preach about being a girls girl whilst mocking other women's bodies? The irony is painful.'
Reddit became another forum for criticism, with one observer noting: 'I honestly can't feel anything but bad for this girl. What a deeply unhappy person she obviously is.'
The discussion quickly turned to the potential harm such content could cause, especially for individuals vulnerable to eating disorders. One commenter shared: 'As someone whose been hospitalised for being so underweight from their ED, this is so f**king harmful and is the kind of stuff that violently fuels this growing fire of normalized disordered behaviour.'
The Skinni Societe's Controversial History
This incident represents the latest in a series of controversies surrounding Schmidt and her brand, The Skinni Societe. The influencer, who previously interned at prestigious firms including J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Bvlgari, now pursues content creation full-time.
Her brand promotes what she describes as a 'skinny aesthetic' through 'What I eat in a day' clips featuring minimal food portions and calorie-counting challenges. The Skinni Societe's Instagram bio states: 'Skinni is a mindset. This isn't restriction. This is taste. Not disordered. Just disciplined. Structure. Not starvation.'
Schmidt has faced previous accusations of promoting unhealthy body ideals, and health experts have questioned her dietary advice, especially since she admitted to Cosmopolitan that she holds no formal qualifications in nutrition.
Despite the backlash, Schmidt has not issued an apology for the recent incident, though the offending video has been removed. This marks the second time she has faced content removal from TikTok, having previously been banned for accumulating content deemed harmful to public health.
When addressing criticism in November, Schmidt boldly stated in a caption: 'I'm not problematic, you're just too sensitive.' She maintains to the Wall Street Journal that she simply promotes a healthy lifestyle, asserting: 'For me and my personal aesthetic, I like to be skinny and there's nothing wrong with that.'
The influencer denies ever struggling with disordered eating herself, telling Cosmopolitan: 'People are body positive until you're skinnier than them, or you're leaner than them. A lot of people who judge me have been through eating disorders. Since I've never had one, I can't relate.'
However, Schmidt has acknowledged her own struggles with generalised anxiety disorder since third grade and understands what it means to feel uncomfortable in one's body.
