DALLAS — A North Texas fitness influencer has settled with the state of Texas after the state claimed she scammed thousands of customers by not delivering fitness and nutrition plans.
It is not known the conditions or for what amount of money the influencer, Brittany Dawn Davis, settled the case. A letter from the Texas Attorney General's Office states that a hearing on a motion for entry of judgment will be filed in the next two weeks and asking that the trial date, previously set for May 15, be vacated.
A letter from Cecilia H. Morgan, an arbitrator for the case, told the judge in the case, Monica Purdy, the parties and counsel in the case had a mediation session on April 25 and had successfully resolved their dispute.
The state had asked for up to $1 million in its initial suit. The details of the settlement are not yet publicly available. A final hearing has been schedule for June 2.
Davis has close to 500,000 Instagram followers and 1.3 million on TikTok. She built her following by posting fitness and health content and sharing how she overcame an eating disorder.
By 2019, though, thousands of people had complained that Dawn wasn’t delivering them the customized plans they’d paid for. Davis went on Good Morning America to apologize.
“Jumped into an industry that had no instructional manual,” she said in 2019. “I’m basically going through uncharted territory.”
Then, a year ago, the attorney general’s office filed a deceptive trade practices act lawsuit. They said the plans ranged from $92 to $300 and charged for shipping fees even though the plans were entirely digital.
Davis has continued to post on social media and has even gained half a million TikTok followers in the year since the state filed its suit, according to SocialBlade.
She’s pivoted to posting about Christianity now under the brand "She Lives Freed," and is instead selling tickets to spirituality retreats. Last April, a one-day event in Fort Worth was charging $125 per person.
“Fitness and health are no longer my identity,” she shared in a 2019 YouTube video. “My identity is in Christ.”