A wildly popular fitness influencer has been forced to admit lying about surviving a bomb blast to the face while serving in the military.
Lee Markham, a bodybuilder known as Malibu Fit Maxx to his more than 1.2 million followers on Instagram, used to brag on his bio about surviving an “IED to the face,” and told an interviewer he suffered the disfiguring injury while serving in Afghanistan in 2010.
But he was forced into a groveling apology to his followers after being exposed by John Dorsey, the New Yorker known online as Goob, who exposes other influencers for Photoshop fails and lies.
Combat vet Lee Markham has apologized after claiming he was injured by an IED. Lee Markham / Instagram
“I wanted to talk to you directly about the claim that I made about taking an IED to the face,” Markham told his followers Friday.
He then blamed the lie on being self-conscious about comments he has long received “about my face and appearance.”
“Some of them were harsh, and to be honest I didn’t handle it well,” he said, saying he was also “new to being in the public eye and I didn’t know how to handle the criticism.”
“Instead of facing that right away, I made a bad decision and put ‘IED Survivor’ in my bio,” he admitted.
“That was not true, and it was wrong. But truly, I’m sorry from the bottom of my heart,” he said, holding his hand over his heart for emphasis. “I take full responsibility for it.”
Markham stressed that he “did serve between 2005 and 2010” and “that part of my life is something that I’ve always be proud of.”
“I’ve always had deep respect for those men and women who served alongside me, especially those who suffered more than I ever will.”
Markham is a fitness influencer with 1.2 million followers. Lee Markham / Instagram
Goob had noted that Markham did not discuss the later-claimed apparent injury during a lecture in 2010, the year he was supposed to have been injured. Records also showed he was not listed among those injured in the 293rd Military Police Company.
He also didn’t get a Purple Heart, given to those injured or killed in combat, and his medical records suggested he suffered a facial injury during a fall near his barracks, rather than a blast, Goob noted.
Markham said he would take “full responsibility” for his actions.
“I know words alone will not fix this,” he said in his apology video. “Trust is earned. It’s not owed. All I can do is be honest with you guys going forward and let my actions speak for [themselves] over time.”
Scores of social media users accepted the fitness star’s apology.
Dave Radband, a former member of the Parachute Regiment and Special Forces Support Group, offered some advice to the content creator.
“The world can be a nasty place, dude,” he wrote. “Keep that head up and learn from the mistake.”
