The world of bodybuilding and fitness has come undone with a video that has gone viral of Mike Van Wyck grabbing Jeff Nippard by the throat and hurling him to the ground like a ragdoll. Many folks took to social media calling Van Wyck a bully, a lunatic, and a total hothead unable to control himself. When news broke that Jeff was pressing charges and that Mike had been arrested, many in the bodybuilding world gave their approval. Although bodybuilding enthusiasts love heavy training and being hardcore in and out of the gym, they condemn acts of physical violence. There is no room in their bodybuilding world for Van Wyck’s actions. That being said, does Jeff bear any responsibility? Did he do anything to send Mike into a rage or was he simply a wholly innocent person at the wrong place at the wrong time?
Jeff Nippard is an accomplished natural bodybuilder and natural strength-based athlete. He has popular social media platforms and loves bodybuilding. He seems like an ok guy, but at the same time, he could also be one of those holier-than-thou natties that like to shake enhanced athletes. In fact, I believe Jeff may have called Mike a scammer on a recent reel and for a guy as popular as Mike that’s highly offensive. If you compete, if you coach people, if you’re a public figure and someone with a big following is calling you out as a scammer, that’s detrimental to your name and reputation. You can easily lose income that way. And yes, sometimes people go hands on. Look at what happened with late great Rich Piana and Jason Genova. Rich slapped him repeatedly and might have done worse had they been alone. In hindsight Rich didn’t know about Jason’s issues, but even had he known, Genova’s Order 66 on 5% and Love It, Kill It annoyed Piana to no end. So when Jason approached him to say hello, Piana let him have it. It wasn’t right then and it’s not right now with Mike and Jeff, but if you going to troll someone, it could happen.

I want to be clear, though. I don’t have any personal issues with Mike or Jeff and to be honest I don’t know much about either one of them. I vaguely know Mike through appearing on Fouad Abiad’s podcasts and I’ve seen Jeff’s posts on social media from time to time. I have never actually spoke to either of them – that I can recall. After fifteen years in the industry, could I have run into them at some expo or talked to them briefly in the an elevator ride? I mean, maybe, but I don’t recall meeting either of them. I say this because I don’t have a dog in the race. I don’t care about either one more than the other. And while I do condemn bullying, I also happen to know that trolling can make just about anyone lose their mind.
Whatever the case may be, this incident has drummed considerable pressure to cancel Mike. People have taken trying to pressure Fouad Abiad to turn his back on his friend. Others, as previously stated, are applauding the looming criminal case and have thrown their support behind Jeff in the event he sues Mike.
I, for one, wish they could talk it out and just shake hands, but I highly doubt that will end this at this point. I don’t think what Mike did was ok by any means, but I’d stop short of saying Jeff had clean hands.