In the aftermath of a controversial statement from PureGym’s British CEO, Humphrey Cobbold, the review platform Trustpilot has been forced to suspend new reviews of the fitness chain. This decision comes in response to a wave of negative reviews that poured in after Cobbold’s comments on the situation in Israel/Gaza during an appearance on the BBC program ‘Question Time’. During the debate, Cobbold expressed deep concern for the civilians in Gaza and emphasized the need for Israel to intensify its efforts to protect civilians. These comments have garnered significant attention and resulted in a backlash against PureGym, where many users have canceled their memberships and called for a boycott of the chain.
In response to the sudden increase in media attention and the many negative reviews, Trustpilot chose to close further reviews of PureGym. The platform also deleted the many one-star reviews that had been submitted in the days following Cobbold’s statements. Trustpilot emphasizes that their platform is intended for feedback based on real purchase and service experiences, and not as a forum for political opinions or reactions to news stories.
Trustpilot has announced that they will reopen reviews in the near future, but with a clear policy that reviews not based on actual customer experiences will be removed. This step has been taken to ensure that reviews on the platform remain credible and relevant to other users. So far, PureGym has not commented on the situation or on the many cancellations and public criticism they have received as a result of their CEO’s statements.