Life coach Tony Robbins apologises for his comments on the #MeToo movement

Tony Robbins apologised for comments he made about the #MeToo movement after a video of him saying women who used it were just trying to make themselves ‘significant’ went viral online.

He released a statement on his Twitter account, calling the movement and its founding message “a beautiful force for good”.

He wrote:

Sometimes, the teacher has to become the student and it is clear that I still have much to learn.

I teach that “life happens for you, not to you”, and what I’ve realised is that while I've dedicated my life to working with victims of abuse all over the world, I need to get connected to the brave women of #MeToo.

I am committed to helping to educate others so that we all stay true to the ideals of the #MeToo movement. I will never stop examining my own words and actions to make sure I am staying true to those ideals.

In the video, taken at a self-help event called Unleash the Power Within, in San Jose, he was recorded saying:

If you use the #MeToo movement to try to get significance and certainty by attacking and destroying someone else… all you’ve done is basically use a drug called significance to make yourself feel good.

He was also accused of bullying a member of the audience called Nanine McCool; the child abuse survivor had told him he “misunderstood” the movement. He had cut her off and used an exercise to prove his point, by walking her backwards and “pushing” against her fist.

Tanara Burke, founder of the #MeToo movement, called him a misogynist.

Despite the apology, people are calling for him to apologise to Nanine McCool.