A 33-stone influencer has reported a gym to police after allegedly being refused membership “because of his weight”.
Júlio Otávio Miranda da Silva claimed staff at Academia Horizon discriminated against him due to his physical condition.
Police have registered the case as “non-criminal”.
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They said the gym’s actions could, in theory, “constitute an abusive practice under consumer law… which prohibits discriminatory treatment, unjustified refusal of service, and practices that place the consumer at an excessive disadvantage”.
Officers reportedly advised Júlio, 35, to “seek civil action” to hold the company accountable.
Júlio, known online as Júlio Mamute, currently weighs 209kg (33st), down from 300kg (47st).
He has 1.7m Instagram followers and 915,500 on TikTok, where he documents his weight loss journey.
A video he posted last week about the incident has been viewed 1.1m times, as reported by Need To Know.
He said: “Yesterday (21 Jan), I went to take a trial class at a gym in the Campestre neighbourhood of Santo André, and today they called me to say they cannot accept my registration as a member.”
The gym in Santo André, Brazil, responded: “A visitor attended a trial swimming class, and during the session, it became clear that there were difficulties that could compromise safety.
“After the class, we had an open conversation and explained that, under the current conditions of our facilities, it was not possible to continue with the enrolment without risking the participant’s safety.
“We want to emphasise that this decision was not based on prejudice, but on responsibility, caution, and concern for the visitor’s health and well-being.”
Júlio said the only challenge he faced was getting out of the pool, which required “a bit more energy”.
“I made it clear to them that it wasn’t a problem,” he told local media.
“I was very upset.”
After the story went viral, the local Sport and Physical Activity Department contacted him and offered him a place at the council’s sports facilities.
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