Woman Who Schooled Tony Robbins On MeToo Talks To Megyn Kelly | Megyn Kelly TODAY

Self-help guru Tony Robbins, a man who has advised multiple U.S. presidents, not to mention Oprah, finds himself in a controversy today thanks to a video that went viral over the weekend. Robbins is a hugely successful motivational speaker and author of several self-help books. Last month, he was confronted at one of his seminars by a woman named Nanine McCool, who wasn't too keen on Tony's messaging when it comes to the Me Too movement. Watch this. Wake up to all the beauty that's in your life. Motivational speaker Tony Robbins is under fire after a video from one of his seminars that took place March 15th went viral this past weekend. The best-selling author was confronted by Nanine McCool in front of a packed arena in San Jose, California, after she felt he was critical of the Me Too movement. I think you misunderstand the Me Too movement. I respect all of you. You can use the Me Too movement to be such a beautiful thing. McCool says she's a fan of Robbins and, on a whim, flew to California from New Orleans where she spent $3,000 to attend his four-day seminar. I was so terrified when I first started to address him. And I'm in front of all of his fans, and I'm thinking, oh, what have I done? Robbins responded to McCool. You shouldn't do that, Stoney. You're living in a glass house. Is there any one of us that hasn't done something that we prefer we've not or that we're embarrassed by? Who here has never done any of that nature in your life? Raise your hand. One liar. I'm not mocking the Me Too movement. I'm not convicting anybody. If you try to get significance and certainty by attacking and destroying someone else, you haven't grown an ounce. All you've done is basically use a drug called significance to make yourself feel good. I just met someone the other day, a very famous man, a very powerful man, who sang how stressed he is because he interviewed three people that day. One was a woman, two were men. The woman was better qualified, and the man was worse qualified. But she was very attractive, and he knew I can't have her around because it's too big a risk and he hired somebody else. I've had a dozen men tell me this. So I want you to know I'm not telling you what to do. No, you're giving me the excuse. You're telling me that the more I push, the more I'm going to be safe. And push he did. At one point in the 11-minute video posted to YouTube, the 6'7 Robbins literally pushed as intimidating. Will you push back? McCool, however, says she was not intimidated. So you're telling me that the harder I push, the more you're going to comply and I'm going to be safe. You are a leader and an influential man. Yes. And you are doing a disservice, in my opinion, to me. I'm not going to be inauthentic and say I'm sorry about something I'm not sorry about. McCool says she is a survivor of sexual abuse herself and has been an advocate for other sexual abuse victims. McCool, a lawyer, was disbarred in 2015 for overzealous social media activism for a client in a custody dispute. McCool maintains that she did not plan on confronting Robbins at the California event. Robbins later apologized for his comments, posting a statement on social media after scores of people were outraged over his comments and treatment of McCool. It reads in part, I apologize for suggesting anything other than my profound admiration for the MeToo movement. Let me clearly say I agree with the goals of the MeToo movement and its founding message of empowerment through empathy, which makes it a beautiful force for good, adding, I am committed to being part of the solution. Please welcome Naneen McCool. Naneen, thank you for being here. So you go out there on a whim, go out there on a whim and decide to take in some wisdom from Tony Robbins. What was it that he said, we don't see that part of the tape, that made you stand up and say I don't think you get the MeToo movement? So I have to paraphrase what I remember because obviously it's not on the video, but he had started out speaking about Steve Wynn, Tony Robbins, Steve Wynn the casino magnate, who's been on the wrong end of the MeToo movement as of late, he's been accused. I didn't really know who Steve Wynn was, it sort of rang a distant bell, but I wasn't figuring that out. Tony Robbins is a storyteller, and so I was trying to figure out where the story was going, and he spent a few minutes talking about Steve Wynn and all the things he'd accomplished and what a great guy he was, and then he segued into the MeToo movement, and what I remember him saying was essentially, and I'm paraphrasing, that women were using the MeToo movement as a means to hold on to their victimhood, to gain significance, and they were attacking men and accusing them of abuse, that if you really talked to them it wasn't really abuse after all. And what was your point in saying he was doing a disservice to the MeToo movement? Well he characterized it as something about victimhood, and that women were being vindictive and using it for some other purpose. To make themselves relevant, he said. Yeah, well, yes, and to me that's everything it isn't, and everything it is is about empowerment and allowing women to have a voice and to talk about this culture that we've lived in for at least my entire lifetime that I'm aware of, and I'm sure many lifetimes before, and I know everyone in this film knows what I'm talking about, and he was just, he didn't get it. I mean it was still obvious to me. He said at the seminar, I'm not going to apologize for something I'm not sorry for, and then in the written statement it sounded different, it sounded like, I'm sorry, you heard the written apology. How do you take that apology, as sincere and is it accepted, because you would be on the receiving end of it, as well as all of the women in the Me Too movement? I think it's, you know, I'm optimistic about it. I love that he said that, you know, sometimes the teacher needs to be, to learn and to become a student, and that he's committed to doing that. I do have a problem with the first two sentences, which I think sort of, first, I don't understand how he can say that he has nothing but respect for the movement when he clearly doesn't understand it, and the things that he said, and the messages that he, or the points he was trying to make, and the interaction with me, seemed to be contrary to respect in the movement, but I am hopeful that he realizes now that, you know, he has a lot to learn, he said that, and I think that's a good thing. I mean, it's funny, because I have said publicly, as somebody who's come out about her own sexual harassment, I don't like. You're one of my sheroes. Oh, thank you. It's true. But for me, I don't like the term victim either. Just for me, in my own head, I think it's disempowering. I always refer to myself as a target in my sexual harassment. So I understand what he was trying to go for, you know, but there was a lot in there outside of that that's controversial, and he's trying to apologize. I hope, I hope you can come back here, and I hope you can come back here, and we can have that more thoughtful discussion about how we get those CEOs to not be afraid to hire the attractive woman, because that is not the solution, CEO friend of Tony Robbins. And by the way, those people are invited here as well. I'd love to have a discussion with those CEOs. Yaneen, thank you. I'm sure it was, I'm sure it was hard to stand up, because I know you like Tony Robbins. I do. I still like Tony Robbins. But I think the moment gave us a chance to talk about something more in depth, and I appreciate that. Yeah. And I think, you know, to some degree, we should be grateful to Tony Robbins for being, having the courage to speak his truth. Right. And we need more speech. We need more speech, even on the controversial topics. Not less. All the best to you. Thank you so much. Thank you. We'll be right back.