How does a fashion influencer with no medical or nutrition qualifications bring down a $40 million diet empire, with only a phone?<\/p>\n
Emily Gellis managed to do just that after accusing F-Factor dieting guru Tanya Zuckerbrot<\/a> of poisoning people \u2014 while subjecting her to years of relentless online attacks, calling her the \u201cscum of the earth\u201d.<\/p>\n The health and wellness business Zuckerbrot had spent 25 years building, drawing in New York\u2019s elite and a celebrity clientele, was effectively destroyed.<\/p>\n Tanya Zuckerbrot poses in her Midtown apartment in Manhattan, New York City, on Monday, July 20, 2026. Zuckerbrot is coming out of a six-year legal battle with influencer Emily Gellis, who accused Zuckerbrot of selling wellness products from her company, F-Factor, that purportedly made people seriously ill. Olga Ginzburg for the N.Y. Post<\/p>\n Now, after a six-year legal battle<\/a>, Gellis, 40, has finally agreed to publicly apologize <\/a>and pay Zuckerbrot $240,000, according to publicly available New York court transcripts.<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t understand what I lived with,\u201d Zuckerbrot, 55, said of the witch hunt. \u201cPeople watched my life being destroyed \u2014 to them, it was entertainment. But this isn\u2019t gossip, it\u2019s my life.\u201d<\/p>\n Aside from her allegations about Zuckerbrot\u2019s products, Gellis accused the mom-of-five of using drugs, failing to pay taxes and engaging in criminal activity \u2014 all of which was untrue.<\/p>\n She told her Instagram followers, who now number 185,000, that Zuckerbrot was a \u201cpowder-pushing, money-hungry, disgusting, gaslighting, greedy woman\u201d, who ran a \u201ccult-like\u201d operation.<\/p>\n Designer Emily Gellis attends the Operation Warm Charity Event hosted by Emily Cho at Asselina Gansevoort Park Hotel in New York City on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2011. Fernando Leon<\/p>\n Zuckerbrot said Gellis ultimately posted more than 50,000 videos about her and F-Factor.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t imagine what it feels like to be hunted,\u201d she said. \u201cI couldn\u2019t leave the house. I would have panic attacks in the supermarket. I thought the world was believing what was being written about me.\u201d<\/p>\n The registered dietitian said she lost millions in business and ultimately spent more than $1 million on lawyers fighting back.<\/p>\n But the toll went far beyond money, as Zuckerbrot admitted the campaign left her suicidal. \u201cI lived with a cyber stalker,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n F-Factor<\/p>\n It all started in 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic, when Gellis \u2014 who dubbed herself an \u201caccidental activist\u201d \u2014 began publicizing anonymous testimonials from followers claiming they had suffered serious physical and mental-health problems while following the F-Factor diet.<\/p>\n She had never met Zuckerbrot. But in just 75 days, Gellis posted more than 4,500 Instagram stories and posts about Zuckerbrot and F-Factor, according to court papers.<\/p>\n Gellis linked the products to everything from gastric distress and hair loss to panic attacks, UTIs, miscarriages and even death.<\/p>\n Anthony Westreich, left, and Tanya Zuckerbrot attend the Garden Reception Fundraiser For The Lawfare Project And End Jew Hatred on Thursday, July 11, 2024, in Watermill, New York. Getty Images for End Jew Hatred\/ The Lawfare Project<\/p>\n She also alleged F-Factor\u2019s fiber powders contained dangerous levels of arsenic and contacted the company\u2019s retail partner Bloomingdale\u2019s to warn that it was selling \u201cpoison.\u201d<\/p>\n Zuckerbrot, who has a master\u2019s degree in nutrition and food studies from NYU, launched her F-Factor 20\/20 fiber and protein powders and bars in 2018.<\/p>\n According to court papers seen by the Post, the products were manufactured in a pharmaceutical-grade facility and tested for microbiological safety, heavy metals and the accuracy of their label claims.<\/p>\n Within two years, Zuckerbrot said, the company was generating more than $1 million a month and had been valued at more than $40 million.<\/p>\n Tanya Zuckerbrot poses in her Midtown apartment on Monday, July 20, 2026, in Midtown, Manhattan, New York. Zuckerbrot is coming out of a six-year legal battle with influencer Emily Gellis, who accused Zuckerbrot of selling wellness products from her company, F-Factor, that purportedly made people seriously ill. Olga Ginzburg for the N.Y. Post<\/p>\n As the controversy exploded in August 2020, Zuckerbrot went on the \u201cToday\u201d show <\/a>and released a certificate of analysis for F-Factor\u2019s chocolate fiber\/protein powder.<\/p>\n NBC News had the document independently reviewed by two nutrition consultants, who said the trace amounts of metals, including arsenic and lead, were at safe levels.<\/p>\n \u201cAnything grown in the soil, even organically \u2026 can contain trace amounts of metals,\u201d Zuckerbrot said at the time.<\/p>\n Tanya Zuckerbrot poses in her Midtown apartment in Manhattan, New York, Monday, July 20, 2026. Zuckerbrot successfully fought back with a defamation suit following a six-year legal battle with influencer Emily Gellis, who accused Zuckerbrot of selling wellness products from her company, F-Factor, that purportedly made people ill. Olga Ginzburg for the N.Y. Post<\/p>\n \u201cIt does not mean that they are not safe for consumption. In fact, we have the highest standards of testing to ensure our products are 100% safe for consumption.\u201d<\/p>\n She added: \u201cI do regret that we did not share this information sooner.\u201d<\/p>\n But the online onslaught continued.<\/p>\n \u201cAt first, we\u2019 were ignoring her,\u201d Zuckerbrot told The Post. \u201cWe knew our products are safe.\u201d<\/p>\n F-Factor diet founder and CEO Tanya Zuckerbrot talks to Sheinelle Jones about controversy surrounding F-Factor products. Zuckerbrot addressed claims that the products caused severe side effects and health complications. TODAY<\/p>\n Gellis went on to claim that more than 10,000 people had contacted her with complaints about F-Factor.<\/p>\n That number would become one of the most significant issues in their eventual legal battle.<\/p>\n Zuckerbrot revealed that evidence obtained during discovery showed that Gellis had fewer than 100 complaints.<\/p>\n And Gellis, a married mom-of-two, has now acknowledged that her claims about the sheer number of purported victims were inaccurate.<\/p>\n F-Factor founder and CEO Tanya Zuckerbrot talks to TODAY\u2019s Sheinelle Jones about controversy surrounding F-Factor products. Zuckerbrot responded to claims that the products caused severe side effects after women alleged they experienced health complications. TODAY<\/p>\n Thousands of social-media posts about F-Factor were not thousands of individual complaints. And reports of symptoms did not, without medical evidence, establish that F-Factor products had caused them.<\/p>\n