Aiken gym owner responds to Mark Wahlberg’s mockery
Oscar-nominated actor Mark Wahlberg shocked and confused many Augusta space residents when he posted an inflammatory video on Instagram from in entrance of an Aiken health club. However nobody was extra confused and angered than the health club’s proprietor Lou Puleo.
“Somebody despatched me a hyperlink to the Instagram web page on Sunday after he had posted it,” mentioned the Exercise Anytime Aiken proprietor. “At first, I believed somebody was spamming me. I used to be like, ‘That is not true!'”
Within the video recorded at about 3 a.m. Sunday, Wahlberg was standing exterior Exercise Anytime Aiken. He mentioned they’d referred to as earlier to rearrange for them to exercise, however no one was there to allow them to in. He additionally scolded the enterprise for not having workers on web site 24/7.
Beforehand: Mark Wahlberg calls out Exercise Anytime Aiken health club in early morning Instagram video
“This isn’t ‘anytime health.’ That is ‘part-time, no-time,'” Wahlberg mentioned.
Within the submit’s description, the actor mentioned he was capable of finding one other health club, however didn’t point out which health club it was or even when it was within the space.
When The Augusta Chronicle spoke to Puleo on Tuesday, he repeatedly mentioned, “No one made the appointment.”
So the place was the confusion?
Puleo mentioned they acquired a name Saturday that went to voicemail from a person who was not Wahlberg saying he and another guys needed to come back for a late evening exercise and left a cellphone quantity to name again. After seeing Wahlberg’s video, Puleo’s supervisor seemed, discovered that message, referred to as the quantity, and the person on the opposite line recognized himself as a member of Wahlberg’s group.
The unidentified consultant mentioned they’d talked to somebody at Exercise Anytime by the identify of Ashley, however Ashley shouldn’t be an worker. Ashley is the identify of the pre-recorded voice that presents itself as a part of the voicemail message, however is not an actual particular person. Puleo mentioned after they tried to clarify this, the consultant mentioned Wahlberg wasn’t and hung up.
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Puleo mentioned he and his supervisor additionally tried to direct message Wahlberg to type this mess out, however they haven’t heard again.
One other level of confusion surrounding this story is that Wahlberg in his video referred to as the enterprise “Anytime Health.” It is unclear if he merely misspoke or believed he was at an Anytime Health health club, although the closest Anytime Health to Aiken is in Martinez, about 30 miles away.
This complete incident has been deeply upsetting for Puleo and his staff.
When The Augusta Chronicle first reached out to them on Monday, he hoped this may simply go away. However as extra folks shared the video and reached out to his enterprise, he needed to communicate up. He expressed how they take satisfaction in having constructed a small, veteran-owned enterprise, and the way one thing like that is very severe for them.
“We have labored exhausting to construct a great repute, and in 30 seconds he tries to destroy it,” Puleo mentioned of Wahlberg. “That is simply not proper.”
However the retired U.S. Marine colonel mentioned the very last thing he needs to do or is attempting to do is begin a social media struggle, particularly since there is no such thing as a means he may win towards somebody with 20 million followers.
“I do not need to disparage Mark Wahlberg. I believe he is an important man. I take pleasure in his movies,” Puleo mentioned. “However for him to go off like that, given his social media standing, is moderately unfair with out stepping again and saying … ‘let me give them an opportunity to clarify why I am standing right here at 3 a.m. and nobody’s right here.'”
Exercise Anytime Aiken is open 24/7 to members and is situated at 1614 Richland Ave. West in Aiken, SC. For extra info, go to workoutanytime.com/aiken.
This text initially appeared on Augusta Chronicle: After Mark Wahlberg complains on Instagram, Aiken health club proprietor responds
