Influencer Charles Gross shares that he and management parted ways after they body-shamed him: ‘We don’t know what other people are going through’
Editor’s note: This article contains mentions of eating disorders and disordered eating. Please take care while reading, and note the helpful resources at the end of this story.
Fashion content creator Charles Gross is speaking out about a recent traumatic experience he had that led to his decision to part ways with his management team.
On June 11, Gross (@charlesgross), who’s amassed more than 1.3 million followers on TikTok, made a three-part video about how he found out that his body image was allegedly off-putting to some brand representatives he’d recently met with.
“My management, now ex-management, reached out to my sister as she’s on my team. I love her dearly, and they expressed they wanted a phone call, one-on-one, to get to know her better,” Gross says. “After the phone call, she came to me and seemed very upset and disturbed and expressed they had mentioned my image, body weight, appearance, and it was not in a positive context.”
Upon finding out, Gross admits that he “fell into an old habit” and immediately booked a filler appointment. This reaction, to panic and try to appease someone without even knowing what the criticism was, scared him.
“The next day, they had a phone call with me,” he says. “They expressed they were concerned because they got some feedback from brands. That at some recent events or meetings in which I interfaced with brands in person, I came off to the brands or the people from the brands as extremely thin, ill, shaky, and they were concerned.”
Gross explains that his immediate reaction was to assure them that he is, in fact, healthy.
“I have always been on the very small and slender side,” he says. “I’ve pretty much been the same weight since high school. Right now, actually, I’m on the heavier side of that margin. … Though, looking back, I don’t really owe anyone an explanation of my health unless they’re directly in my life.”
Following his discussion with Mallory and Maxwell, over Memorial Day weekend, Gross panicked and reached out to all the brands he’d recently seen. While he wasn’t given the exact brands that allegedly expressed concern, Gross felt it’d be better to “apologize on a hunch than not say anything.”
“I emailed all the brands I had recently seen in person and expressed to them, ‘Hey, if I saw you and in any way made you feel uncomfortable with my appearance or looked unwell, I want to assure you that I’m totally fine and I am very sorry,'” he says.
Gross reveals that prior to this conversation, he hadn’t weighed himself in years. That weekend, however, he weighed himself probably 50 times.
On the Tuesday following Memorial Day weekend, Gross had a follow-up call with his then managers, during which he terminated their relationship.
“In the meeting they also said things that started to change my thinking a bit,” he says. “They mentioned their aggressive dissatisfaction that I had sent those emails. They reprimanded me and said I did them with malicious intent, so I apologized for apologizing. They brought up my father’s passing as potentially a reason that I look unwell or am unwell, even though I’m not.”
When Gross momentarily got disconnected from the call, management spoke with his sister, Jamie, and articulated their belief that her brother was obviously “really unwell mentally.” It was at this point that his panic turned into anger.
“One thing that helped a lot to my surprise, brands I emailed and brands I hadn’t reached out to at all actually reached out to me and said, ‘We are so sorry that you heard something like this. It did not come from us and we don’t align with anything like that. We would never say that. You look fine. Even if you didn’t, we would never say that and we are so sorry that your management would feel in any way that’s something you should ever communicate to someone,'” he says.
“Be kind. Be mindful. Be positive,” Gross urges audiences. “These are not just buzzwords, they are active choices. We don’t know what other people are going through and what our words will do on the other side. I thought I was impervious to words about my appearance. I thought I would never fall back into bad habits with my body, and it took one phone call to change that.”
TikTok users are showing Gross their support following his three-part explanation. Many are in agreement that his management shouldn’t have spoken about his body in a negative, shaming way.
“No one should ever comment on your appearance in a negative way. You should be proud of yourself for recognizing the habit,” @haleyybodennn44 wrote.
“Prioritize yourself and protect your peace of mind. Nothing is more important than you,” @robinmvaughn commented.
“It validates or emphasizes that our worth is tied to our appearance, and that’s not true,” Chelsea Kronengold, communications lead at the National Eating Disorders Association, told USA Today. “Maybe they’re struggling with an eating disorder, maybe they’re going through something in their life that has impacted their relationship with food or maybe they have an illness. … [That’s] why commenting on people’s bodies and weights is completely inappropriate — you don’t even know the intention behind it and what else is going on.”
Gross is one of a handful of public figures that have taken to social media to address concerns over their bodies. In April, Ariana Grande made a rare statement on TikTok over growing scrutiny of her body. And in February, Selena Gomez went live on TikTok to address criticism about her fluctuating weight as a result of her lupus medication.
If you or someone you know is struggling with an eating disorder or disordered eating habits, contact the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) at 1-800-931-2237. You can also connect with a Crisis Text Line counselor at no charge by texting the word “NEDA” to 741741. Visit the NEDA website to learn more about the possible warning signs of eating disorders and disordered eating.
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