It’s hard to recap all the news about celebrity trainer Tracy Anderson (Goop’s maybe-former BFF who got dumped by Madonna), but I feel very confident saying that she’s a scam artist. Many people have commented that they’ve been helped by her workout DVDs, which is fine, but her business practices are often illegal and fraudulent. She’s been sued six times in her native Indiana and she has a well documented history of not paying her bills or rent and then picking up and leaving her creditors in the lurch.
Around the time that Madonna dumped Tracy as her beck and call trainer, Tracy was dating Philippe van den Bossche, the former head of Madonna’s Raising Malawi charity. That was in the fall of 2009 and millions of dollars in donations went “coincidentally” missing from the charity under van den Bossche’s watch. Much hyped plans for a girls’ school in Malawi had to be scrapped and the charity was put under investigation for tax evasion.
Fast forward less than three years and Tracy married some other guy and just had his baby. It’s very sketchy, like a lot of things this woman gets involved with. Here’s more, from US Weekly.
The celebrity personal trainer and her husband Matt Mogol welcomed baby Penelope into the world on Monday, Us Weekly can confirm exclusively. Penelope, Anderson and Mogol’s first child together, weighed in at 5 lbs., 10 oz. and joins stepbrother Sam, Anderson’s 13-year-old son with her first husband, former NBA star Eric Anderson.
Back in March, the fitness pro and founder of The Tracy Anderson Method was feted with a baby shower that boasted a celebrity guest list: Catt Sadler, Sally Pressman and Nicole Richie. Absent A-list pals and clients including Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Lopez, Courteney Cox and Jessica and Kate Capshaw sent along items from her registry like a $500 Fresco Bloom high chair and three months’ worth of diapers from Jessica Alba’s Honest Company.
“Everything was very girly,” a source told Us about the baby bash. “The cake and tablecloths were all pink and green. Each table had Barbie dolls that were custom-made to look like workout Barbies carrying weights. They had Miss Piggys — little toys where you push on the toy and you hear the [Olivia Newton John] song ‘Let’s Get Physical.'”
[From US Weekly]
Here’s my question in the title. If Goop only sent a gift and didn’t bother to attend Tracy’s baby shower, does that mean they had a falling out? At least she sent something, but I doubt these two are close anymore. I checked and the last time Gwyneth shilled any of Tracy’s products in her newsletter was back in October, 2011. Gwyneth invested money in Tracy’s NY fitness studio in early 2009. Given this woman’s history of money and business management, I doubt Goop has seen a return on her investment. In a February Bazaar profile, Goop said she still works out with Tracy daily, though. You would think if that’s still the case she would have come to her baby shower.
Anyway, congratulations to Tracy and her latest husband on their new baby. I’ll say something nice: Penelope is a cute name.
Tracy and the former head of Madonna’s charity, Philippe van den Bossche, in May, 2010. Her bulimia cheeks have gone down a lot since then.
Photo credit: PRPhotos and WENN.com
First, Dame Gwynie would so not attend the help’s party. As class dictates, one sends an appropriate gift with a simply autographed card.
As for the scam history, I did not know at all about Stacey’s past! Wow, talk about sticking it to your clients!
And is it me or isn’t a 5lbs-10oz-baby too small?
ha ha, you are so right about Gwynie..
TA is only about 4’11” I think, so just under 6lb is probably about right?
Those plastic titties, on the other hand, are so very wrong…
I’m 4’11” and my daughter was 6 lbs 14 oz. My OB told me I would have a smaller baby.
GOD YES!! Those boobs are awful
Those things look horrendous. Why oh why do women think THAT looks good?!
I’m 5’2″ and my 3rd baby (the one I gained the most weight with) was under 6 lbs. All my babies were small–as were my husband and I when we were born.
But I have heard of tiny women giving birth to big babies. Just one of those mysteries of life!
I hope for her baby’s sake that she ate healthy. I’m 5’3 and had a 9 pound baby. I only gained 28 pounds during my pregnancy.
Wow Ladies, this should be the CeleBitchy’s What to expect when you’re expecting thread! 😉
My friend is also under 5 feet tall (I often tease her while looking over her head and calling “Where are you hiding?”), had an 8 pound baby, and had gained only 23 pounds during pregnancy. The very little above 10 pounds scared me in this story.
I know babies apparently lose something like 15% of their body weight after they were born, and that is why some are placed directly in incubators. I just can’t remember the minimal weight..?
They will not let you leave the hospital with a baby under 4lbs. At 5ft 1in, my babies were 6.3 and 6.4. I was 5 1/2 lbs at birth and my mother was around 4 lbs, full term. Small babies happen to small people unless the small woman’s husband is a big guy, then all bets are off!
That explains it, my friend’s husband is 6’2!! But very skinny.
Just to join in on the baby weight issue: I think it is just fine. Mom had 2 girls just over the 5lbs mark (by 2 or 3 ounces) and the boy weighed in at 6lbs 2ozs. Plus, Mom is 5’10”. Size/height doesn’t really matter as friends and inlaws that are around the 5’7″ height all had babies under the 7lbs mark too.
It’s all very weird. I was just surprised at how little her baby weighted at birth.
The nurse who helped deliver my friend’s baby, who was like this very skinny petite chick, told us that she gave birth to a 13-pound baby boy. Naturally, WITHOUT ANY DRUGS.
This gives me nightmares and cold sweats.
No, it’s not too small. It’s healthy.
Me and my sisters were 5 pounds something and my mom was healthy.
She looks much better pregnant.
ITA. It’s kind of amazing actually.
I know, right??? It’s a little shocking actually, she looks almost cute pregnant. I scrolled down and was like “Oh right, this is why I had her in my mind as slightly fug.” It’s not nice but gawd, those plastic boobs and the bad tan … no. So she obviously did this to herself if pregnancy can improve her looks this much.
are her breast implants trying to be shoulder pads? or did her cheek implants fall into her chest?
@soooz This made me LOL! thank you.
Lol. That was good
Hahahah. I was trying to figure out what was going on with those things in that last photo. You said it perfectly.
I just had twins and my daughter was that weight (my son was over 6lbs). yes that’s small for a newborn.
This woman is one of the biggest scammers out there. not to mention her “method” does absolutely nothing but guarantee you will have to yo-yo diet the rest of your life b/c her diet methods will totally destroy your metabolism.
I feel sorry for her baby. she’ll probably have her purging her baby formula when she starts to develop natural baby fat rolls (which I love btw)
I cant figure out what she did to her face but looks like she had more PS.
Nose job! Just noticed.
THATS IT!
The tip was shortened and narrowed.
I see some filler work in the cheeks too.
Wait for it – Anderson will notice the baby rolls (although a 5 lb. baby may not have many) and will introduce baby colon cleanses! For only $500 a pop, your baby’s colon will be clean as a whistle and you’ll see those fat rolls drop right off!
Seriously, I’ve always thought she was shady too. But Gwyneth’s body is amazing. She doesn’t look emaciated and has good muscle tone. Did it all come from that “method” or is she doing something else? Hmm.
I wonder if Gwynn did baby colon detox on her two?
@tmbg
Goop works out 2 hrs a day/6 days a week and barely eats. You too could have a banging body if you had all that time to workout, plus personal chef and PS.
I think goops body looks good but she obviously screwed up her body’s natural functions if she has to rely on all these cleanses to relieve herself. That is just not normal. you cant continuously use that stuff w/o your body reacting to it. In her case I dont think she can go on her own any more and has to use these products. Those cleanses would not be necessary if she would not have started them in the first place.
Hi Macey,
Have you ever tried her dvds or diet plans?
Just curious. You seem to know it all but if you did, you’d know that what she recommends is the opposite of a yo-yo diet.
I also don’t know if you’ve ever worked for a magazine, blog, or newspaper, but an interviewer exaggerates and changes most things given in an interview. A typical interview asking what a bride should do before a wedding might have a simple answer from Tracy of: work out 5-6 days a week and eat low carbs, etc. But when the article changes to “how to lose weight when the bride has 30 days,” that answer will absolutely change.
It’s really unsettling that people take heart to everything they read without doing their own research.
I have a lot of Tracy’s DVDs, and while her exercises are unique and work to a small degree, she is the worst trainer ever. She never gives cues! You are supposed to watch her and figure out what to do. I would never recommend her DVDs to anyone.
@ LA
NOPE! I can proudly say Ive never spent a penny on anything she shills. I have seen a few minutes of some on youtube and theres really nothing innovative or special about them, basically aerobic type stuff thats been around for ages. Not saying the moves wont help but any exercise does. Anyone thats been in the fitness industry for yrs and yrs has seen so many of these self acclaimed trainers and their fads come and go.
She’s also the last and worst person to give any type of nutritional advice considering her own practices. Most of the celebs she trains have always been in great shape whether they worked out w/her or someone else but she likes to take credit for their bodies. Shes honestly one of the biggest frauds in the industry. I could go on but wont.
Ive tried it and they work. She is bad at directions, but if you do the videos, you tone up fast, especially if you are thin to begin with.
I’ve read several articles which label her diet plan as dangerously unhealthy. I believe the calorie intake per day is 600-700. It’s not surprising that people are going to lose weight on such a diet.
YUP, I remember her scamming and not paying her bills, instead–she’d just move…and the crap would follow her and we are not talking about chump change either.
she’s sheisty and neurotic
FYI-“sheisty” is an anti-semitic slur. Not the best way to describe someone.
Sheisty comes from “shyster” derived from word scheisser (incompetent worthless person) to describe an unscrupulous lawyer, U.S, 1843.
And is commonly used as an antisemitic slur- regardless of its derivative.
Those cheeks really scream out BULIMIA… And so much plastic surgery, all fake.. she must have MAJOR issues with her looks.
How do her cheeks indicate bulimia?
http://www.eatingdisordersonline.com/articles/bulimia/bulimia-cheeks
I had to google it, I had no idea, but apparently it’s a real thing.
she’s been bulimic for years.
dont forget this is the chick that promotes eating baby food and keeping cals under 800 to lose weight.
any diet/fitness professional will tell you to avoid any type of advice like this. she also claims to be a personal trainer even tho she has never actually been certified by any accredited agency, she issued her own cert. to herself.
How can one tell the difference between bulimic cheeks and too much filler?
I really think it’s a shame so many of you are taking the time to slam this woman and the fact that her baby was 5 lbs, as if that’s funny?
She may have a crazy past of unpaid bills, people taking her to court over money, etc. but she knows how to change a woman’s body. She may not have the doctorate degrees in nutrition but a lot of people are self made gurus. The truth is that she DOES help women and is financially stable for the first time in her life.
Please let her enjoy her baby’s birth and leave her alone.
Okay Tracy.
Nope, you don’t get to guilt people out of having concerns about the advice someone gave them because it’s ‘mean’.
1. No one’s stalking her or preventing her from enjoying anything, she isn’t a child.
2. There are no self-made gurus when it comes to spending huge amounts of your time on your body, there’s qualified and unqualified and a roll of paper from the DeVry Institute won’t cut it. Heck, most women don’t wax their own eyebrows, but if they did, they wouldn’t have Shane from the rock quarry do it if his only certification is his passion for fashion.
3. If you don’t want the scrutiny, make your exit from the public eye. You can’t promote yourself and gain that kind of visibility (and money) in any occupation without having to answer for yourself or share a difference of opinion. She can’t use her baby as a bulletproof vest. How did she deal with these things in the past, and how will she deal with them one her grace period of being a new mother passes?
4. She does change bodies…into dust. Gwyneth Paltrow already has osteoporosis and she’s a really young woman, not even 40. She’s not a unique case, either.
5. Unless all of her celebrity clients are ditching her because her dubious finances. Investors don’t care if you’re a monkey in estrus if the books aren’t in order.
6. If you’re trying to infiltrate, you have to be much more subtle. The Mysterons knew this.
7. I do honestly wish for the good health of her and her family, but it’s time for her to make the adjustments required to reasonably reciprocate that wish.
8. The symptoms of bulimia are unmistakeable and there for all to see in some distant corner of Google Images.
Hey you are definitely entitled to your opinion, for sure. I’ve worked for the company in the past and am just standing up for something that I believe in. I work out every day there. I’ve seen women transform. I’ve also seen women, like most of you on here who are bashing her, who literally do not know how to feed themselves or know how to cook.
Tracy gives advice. She does not say to FOLLOW the recipes and if you don’t you are WRONG. I answer emails for our company as well and I give recommendations on how to alter certain foods based on allergies, likes/dislikes, etc.
I do understand people who do not see a change by working out with the Method. They don’t do it regularly for whatever reason: life, children, laziness, etc. No one should be judged by those interferences, but it happens and it’s ok.
The fact is that everyone is going to have an opinion about every fitness expert.
I’m just giving you some facts. She eats. I used to cook for her.
Yes, 3 lbs weights are all you need and again, if you saw a video and followed it, you’d see a difference. I swear. Her Method is definitely to rid your body of the crap we all eat, BUT with the idea that you CAN eat those foods once your body is used to working out. You just do it gradually, instead of yo-yo-ing.
Not rocket science:)
The baby is doing great in case anyone cares!
I agree. sounds like a lot of women who are mad they can’t lose weight so they’re bhlaming her.
So if you question Tracy Anderson’s almighty “Method” you’re a bitter person who can’t lose weight and is using Anderson as a scapegoat?? Stop it.
Anyone following her diet (600-700 calories/day), and daily exercise plan is going to lose weight.
Look at the reviews, her diet plan is dangerously unhealthy and her exercise videos provide no instruction whatsoever. She is so overrated. And, this is coming from someone who is naturally thin, no exercise or dieting required.
Possible that baby size is genetically linked. My mom, at 5’8, had two babies under 6 lbs at full term. I’m 5’3 and my kid was 6lb 2 oz. I was told that small babies do run in the family. Thank god.
she reminds me of Kris Kattan as Mango.
LOL
Tracy gave me a bum. My flat bottom actually had cheeks. I love her for that alone.
***DISTRACTED*** by her bolt-ons and her jawline in the last pics.
It’s truly frightening, isn’t it?
Can we not slam people based on a baby’s birth weight? We don’t know the gestational age or anything else. I know nothing about this woman, but don’t think its fair to make assumptions based on the baby’s weight at birth. Walk into a NICU, while 5lbs 10oz is a little on the small side for the average newborn, it’s nothing compared to what you see there.
Hey CB can you do a post on Jillian Michaels adopting two kids? She wrote about it on her Facebook and I was kind of confused…something about her partner giving birth to one of them. Is she a lesbian in a serious relationship/marriage? I had no idea. People has a short write-up about it and I’m curious.
Scrolled too quickly, thought that guy was Steven Seagal.
why does the article say that baby Penelope joins her step-brother, Sam, Anderson’s son from a previous marriage. If Sam is Anderson’s son from a previous marriage, doesn’t that make him her half-brother?
I caught that too, Liv.
She has CRAZY in her eyes !
Glad i didn’t buy her online program!
Haha, she’s such a joke. Her program consists of lifting 3 lb weights and eating 700 calories. Dumbass.
I remember her on a show saying “no woman should use more than 3lb weights” and then went on to advice about doing tons of reps (like 100’s). nothing wrong with a lighter wt and more reps but you eventually need to increase wt to continue increasing your strength and if you can do that many you’re not challenging your muscles, wont be effective after awhile.
Yeah, she says the same in her program’s infomercial. Awful stuff! I doubt Goopy-head stuck only to her program and got the results she did.
a joke alright, and a bad one at that. her 800- calories diet is probably why dame poop has had osteoroposis way before her menopause.
Likely! She’s a perfect example of how a person could look fit, but have the health of a chain smoking 80 year old.
Gawd, what a strange manface she has.
I love how people say Cameron Diaz’s face looks busted and then the Cameron Diaz story is followed by Tracy Anderson’s face and Tara Reid’s face. Puts busted in perspective.
Let this poor woman alone. She has helped so many women. (Do I sense some jealousy in these posts?) I’m not for the cosmetic stuff. But she sure can change your body. Challenge: Just try some of her many moves and you’ll stop talking about her this way. Really amazing. It has worked for me and I’m over 50!