3 days ago
Jillian Michaels Has Meltdown During CNN Slavery Talk
Biggest Loser coach and Donald Trump supporter Jillian Michaels had a stunning meltdown Wednesday night while defending white people during a fiery debate about the president's efforts to rewrite US history.
Michaels appeared on a CNN NewsNight panel with conservative commentator Scott Jennings, Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), Democratic strategist Julie Roginsky, and legal analyst Elie Honig to discuss Trump's pick for Kennedy Center honoree. The conversation took a sharp turn when Roginsky, discussing changes Trump has spearheaded at the Kennedy Center and the Smithsonian Institution, accused the president of 'trying to change culture' and revise history so it does not offend his MAGA base.
'Can you address some of those things in there? Because have you looked at some of the things in there?' Michaels asked, referring to historical displays at the Smithsonian Institution. 'Yeah. Yes, slavery was a bad thing we should talk about,' Roginsky said before Michaels interrupted.
'He's not whitewashing slavery,' the fitness guru argued. 'And you cannot tie imperialism and racism and slavery to just one race, which is pretty much what every single exhibit does.'
Michaels: You cannot tie imperialism and racism and slavery to just one race, which is pretty much what every single exhibit does… Only less than 2% of white Americans own slaves. You realize that slavery is thousands of years old?
Phillip: I'm very surprised you are trying to…
— Acyn (@Acyn) August 14, 2025
@Acyn/ CNN / Via
The CNN panel erupted in cross-talk, and Michaels turned to Torres and asked, 'Do you realize that only less than 2% of white Americans owned slaves?' citing a contested figure. 'But it was a system of white supremacy,' Torres responded.
As people continued to talk over each other, Michaels added that slavery is thousands of years old, but was interrupted by a stunned Phillip, who said she was 'surprised' that her guest was 'trying to litigate who was the beneficiary of slavery.' 'In the context of American history, what are you saying is incorrect by saying it was white people oppressing Black people?' Phillip asked. 'Every single thing is like, oh, no, no, no, this is all because 'white people bad,' and that's just not the truth,' Michaels said.
Michaels then characterized a Smithsonian exhibit as claiming that people 'migrated from Cuba because 'white people bad,'' before accusing Roginsky of not knowing what's in the museum. But the exhibit Michaels called out didn't actually appear to make that argument. Later that night, she posted a photo of an exhibit that names US foreign policy as a contributor to political instability in Cuba and the Dominican Republic. The pictured exhibit did not expressly mention white people at all, except to note that some of the first Cubans to immigrate to the US were 'wealthy White Cubans.'
Ok... so for anyone watching me on @CNN tonight battling it out on Abby Phillip's show... this is one of the Smithsonian exhibits I was referencing. Trump is not trying to "erase slavery" by suggesting some of the instillations there are inaccurate and bias. Notice how it omits…
— Jillian Michaels (@JillianMichaels) August 14, 2025
@jillianmichaels / Via
During her appearance on CNN, the fitness influencer also griped about other elements of the Smithsonian.'Do you know that when you walk in the front door, the first thing you see is the gay flag?' asked Michaels, who is married to a woman. She then started to criticize an exhibit that touches on gender testing in sports before Phillip interjected, 'We don't have time to litigate all of this.'
CNN / Via
'Of course we don't, because then you're going to lose the argument, and if everything is racialized, just like you're trying to do to me now,' Michaels told Phillip. 'Excuse me? Jillian, you brought up race,' Phillip said. 'This was a conversation about the arts, and you brought up race.'
— Acyn (@Acyn) August 14, 2025
@Acyn/ CNN / Via
