DALLAS — North Texas social media influencer Brittany Dawn Davis will face a trial this week after the Texas Attorney General’s office alleged she scammed thousands of customers by not delivering fitness and nutrition plans. Davis has close to 500,000 Instagram followers and 1. 3 million on TikTok.
She built her following by posting fitness and health content and sharing how she overcame an eating disorder. By 2019, though, thousands of people had complained that Dawn wasn’t delivering them the customized plans they’d paid for. Davis went on Good Morning America to apologize.
“Jumped into an industry that had no instructional manual,” she said in 2019. “I’m basically going through uncharted territory. ” Then, a year ago, the attorney general’s office filed a deceptive trade practices act lawsuit, asking for between $250,000 and $1 million in damages.
They said the plans ranged from $92 to $300 and charged for shipping fees even though the plans were entirely digital. “I followed her on social media as most folks did for quite a while,” Kenzie Andino, who paid $300 for a plan in 2017, said. Andino said the plan was clearly not what was promised.
“I knew what customized meant and that was not at all what I received,” she said. “In fact, the first document I received didn’t even have the right name on it. It was someone else’s name.
” She was put on a 900-calorie-a-day diet and struggled by her second week, sharing her issues with Davis in a long message. “I made sure to let her know that I was concerned,” Andino said. “My response that I got within – no lie – 45 seconds of sending it was ‘nice work babe’ and after that I told her that I was done.
” She was told she wouldn’t be receiving a refund because she had waiting too long to ask. In her Good Morning America video from 2019, Davis admitted she had asked clients she refunded to sign non-disclosure agreements and that she deleted comments on her social media channels from people who called out her business practices. Neither Davis nor her attorney replied to WFAA’s request for comment on this story or Andino’s issues.
Legal filings in the case show Davis’s defense turned over more than 50,000 pages of documents, but last week the state argued they left off thousands of customers. They also only shared receipts for $169,000 in payment but the state said her PayPal account took in more than $1. 5 million.
Davis’s defense attorney, Calvin McLean, argued a web hosting company deleted the records. The state said that had previously never been mentioned. The judge ruled Davis would only be allowed to use documents already produced.
Davis has continued to post on social media and has even gained half a million TikTok followers in the year since the state filed its suit, according to SocialBlade. She’s pivoted to posting about Christianity now under the brand “She Lives Freed” and is instead selling tickets to spirituality retreats. Last April, a one-day event in Fort Worth was charging $125 per person.
“Fitness and health are no longer my identity,” she shared in a 2019 YouTube video. “My identity is in Christ. ” The state said at least 14 customers who asked for refunds said the plans also made their eating disorders worse.
Andino said she also found the program triggering for her eating disorder. She’s part of a large online group of former customers hoping the trial brings accountability. “I think it’s been a long time coming,” she said.
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From: wfaa
URL: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/trial-north-texas-fitness-influencer-brittany-dawn-alleged-scams/287-3763c1e8-e6ca-4ffa-a3a4-9e9d69c67343
