By Charlie Sawyer
Published May 31, 2025 at 09:00 AM
Reading time: 5 minutes
Liv Schmidt first began her brand by posting videos on her TikTok account instructing her audience on how to stay trim and curb cravings. Now, the influencer runs a very financially profitable—and toxic—empire.
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It’s no shock that social media trends have had a direct impact on the resurgence of a number of problematic mindsets. However, few have incited widespread public concern quite like the revival of skinny culture. Publications have been reporting about this new surge for quite some time now, emphasising the dangers in romanticising thinness. However, there are some influencers who’ve not only embraced this segue away from body inclusivity but are actively capitalising off of young women’s insecurities. One of the most vocal advocates of this toxicity? Certified “skinni coach,” Liv Schmidt.
Schmidt has spent the past few years curating an incredibly specific online brand, notably across her Instagram and TikTok social media accounts. The content creator’s message has always been very clear: aspiring to be skinny is not a bad thing.
On the surface, this might not seem like the most offensive narrative. However, Schmidt has taken it upon herself to publicly promote, and therefore financially profit off, of encouraging disordered eating.
@citygirlztikok I do not condone violence OR skinnytok. We’ve lost the plot. Skinny is NOT the goal. Strong and energized is! #womenshealth #skinny #feminism
In fact, I’d argue that Schmidt’s obsession with glamourising thinness over the past few years has directly affected the lives of many young women and girls—individuals who are in a constant state of upheaval with their own bodies.
From relentless social media messaging to tiered subscription guides, Schmidt has been one busy girl when it comes to minimising the often tireless journey to health. Oh, and she’s also made it her personal mission to remind every insecure woman online that skinniness is the sole recipe for success and contentedness. Lovely stuff…
liv schmidt’s instagrams reels are actually sending me pic.twitter.com/IxLTFz3m2K
— cassie🍓 (@cassicqls) May 13, 2025
As someone who’s personally struggled with their physical appearance for years (specifically in regard to my weight), Schmidt’s very presence online has deeply triggered me. I can’t even imagine what it must feel like to be a part of this individual’s inner sanctum. Now, time to delve deeper into this messy, messy woman.
Who is Liv Schmidt?
Liv Schmidt first started gaining traction mid-2024. Posting videos on her TikTok account instructing her audience on how to stay trim, curb cravings, and avoid the ‘freshman fifteen’, the creator described herself as a “certified health and wellness life coach.”
Signed to a modelling agency in New York, Schmidt didn’t shy away from political correctedness (or just general decency, in all honesty) and regularly associated her figure with her status as a sought-after socialite or it girl. At the height of her popularity, the creator had over 670,000 followers on the platform. Currently, on Instagram, Schmidt has 322,000 followers.
The Wall Street Journal wrote a profile on Schmidt and the piece delved into the creator’s mindset regarding her content and overall branding online. 22 at the time of publication, the influencer stated: “weight is a touchy topic, but that’s what the viewers want.”
Addressing accusations of creating ‘rage bait’ content, Schmidt noted that she always says things such as “for me and my personal aesthetic, I like to be skinny and there’s nothing wrong with that.”
While inconvenient for the strength of this article, I think a lot of people were pleased to see Schmidt’s TikTok account later banned in September 2024. Interestingly enough, the ban came during the writing of the WSJ profile, with the video platform giant deciding to suspend Schmidt shortly after the publication reached out to TikTok for a comment. A TikTok spokesperson said the creator’s account had been removed as a result of community guideline violations but declined to be more specific.
Even with Schmidt’s TikTok page gone, you can still get a pretty strong taste for her content through her Instagram Reels:
What is the Skinni Société?
If Liv Schmidt was a brand, SKINN SOCIÉTÉ would be her flagship campaign. From what I can gather, Skinny Société is an online community that focuses on helping its members lose weight. Once again, on the surface, the group’s existence might not scream ‘toxic!’ but when you delve deeper into its messaging and promotion of restrictive and disordered eating, it reveals an exceedingly dark underbelly.
A recent article from The Cut included interviews with former members of the Skinni Société and their testimonies were incredibly shocking. 37-year-old Emma, who initially joined the group after being taunted by her ex-boyfriend about her weight, told the publication that after discovering Schmidt’s content, she bought into the concept out of intrigue.
As a part of the starting $20 subscription package, members receive access to exclusive content on Schmidt’s page regarding meal plans, workout videos, etc. Plus, the members are also included in a group chat where every individual is encouraged to share their weight goals and progress.
Emma told the publication that pretty quickly, it became evident that Schmidt was more than comfortable with promoting unhealthy eating habits. For example, urging her members to “chug water or green tea” to trick their bodies into ignoring hunger cues.
“They’re all so obsessive, so it’s hard to not become obsessive too. It’s, like, this little cult of being skinny,” Emma explained.
There were conversations regarding what to do to combat hair loss due to malnutrition, posts which showed crazy high step counts, and tons more tips and tricks to try and lose excessive amounts of weight.
Schmidt has time and time again tried to defend her practices, insisting that it is not toxic or unhealthy to monitor your food intake and exercise. And yes, this is true—to an extent. However, capitalising off of women’s desires to fit a particularly unattainable body type, while doing very little to protect the safety of your members, is extremely toxic and, honestly, kind of evil.
Why did Meta restrict monetisation on Liv Schmidt’s diet group?
Following Liv Schmidt’s TikTok ban back in September 2024, the creator has also experienced issues with Meta. According to Complexgiven Schmidt’s current business model, the Skinni Société should be providing her with a rather hefty monthly salary. Specifically, reports have estimated that the influencer is making $130,000 per month by promoting a version of “clean eating” to her 6,500 paying subscribers.
However, this is all about to change. Shortly following the publication of The Cut’s in-depth report regarding the group—an article which included the allegation that despite supposed age restrictions there were a number of members in the chat that were under 18—Meta’s spokesperson Andy Stone posted this on X:
This account is no longer able to offer subscriptions or use any of our monetization tools. And we restricted it so it’s only visible to people over 18.
— Andy Stone (@andymstone) May 23, 2025
What criticisms has Liv Schmidt faced regarding her content from the public?
Liv Schmidt has been dragged quite a lot online for her business and overall reputation. In particular, recently a lot of netizens seem to have come to their wits end with the influencer’s refusal to recognise the harm she’s causing:
NEW from me: #SkinnyTok influencer Liv Schmidt is making $100k a month from the Skinni Societe, a group of girls encouraging each other to starve themselves to lose weight. I joined the group and confirmed at least 15 members who are still in high school. Here’s what else I saw:
– not dickson (@ejdickson) May 23, 2025
Sorry, had to come back to this because it’s wild that a person with this platform and who encourages this —by making the language “neutral”—is so popular and has been championed by popular brands and media. pic.twitter.com/kxeiIuZG0p
— Zito (@_Zeets) May 24, 2025
However there are of course individuals (bots I reckon) who continue to support Schmidt and regularly claim that she is wrongly being persecuted online:
gonna be honest watching liv schmidt helped me get out of my binge cycle
— micha ⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ (@teapartyblues) May 19, 2025
liv schmidt hate is so forced, her advice literally helped me gain my period back
– Sunday (@jaimecroissants) May 27, 2025
There’s a witch hunt on Liv Schmidt and she needs to be protected at all costs
– – (@hafssaoo) May 26, 2025
Indeed, it’s apparent that Schmidt’s branding has been received very positively from conservative communities, those who have always criticised and mocked the body positivity movement.
Liv Schmidt holds an awful lot of power and influence. And as important as healthy eating and exercise is, I’d argue that she is fixated on promoting a lifestyle that completely diverges away from what health should be. Moreover, her blatant denial regarding the ways in which she may be worsening the mental health of young girls and women across the world is frightening.
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