Cass Olholm hits back at the Bikini Body Training Company’s bid to shut down her new app

Fitspo’s rising star has muscled back at the Sweat app, saying Kayla Itsines’ $65 million creation can’t stop her starting her own rival business.

Cass Olholm, left, and Kayla Itsines, right, in December 2022. Picture: Instagram

• Who is Cass Olholm?

The $65 million fitness app founded by Kayla Itsines is “not unique”, just “one of hundreds”, and deserves neither control over nor protection from a rising star’s rival product, a court has heard.

In the Supreme Court on Tuesday, Cairns crossfit trainer Cass Olholm hit back at the Bikini Body Training Company’s bid to shut down her new app, scheduled to launch on Thursday.

Thomas McFarlane, for Ms Olholm, said there was no justification for Bikini Body’s “ridiculous, hopelessly broad, unreasonable” legal push.

He said there was no conceivable way Ms Olholm, with her 44,000 social media followers, could damage Sweat’s 44 million online audience or $65 million annual turnover.

“The Sweat app is one of hundreds of these types of apps that are available … it’s not as if it’s the only one in existence, it’s but one of many,” he said.

“There really can’t be any serious suggestion that what Sweat does, and does very well, is somehow unique – it’s only a matter of preparing a series of workout videos for subscribers.

“So what’s really being restrained here is my client using her skills and experience in competition with Sweat … it’s saying ‘we made you more popular and visible than you were before we met you, so we ought to be able to restrain you.”

Ms Itsines and Ms Olholm both featured in programs on the Sweat app. Picture: Instagram

Last week, the company – originator of the highly-successful Sweat app – sought an injunction to stop Ms Olholm launching her rival business, trainwithcass.com.

It asserted that Ms Olholm forged her brand and online persona during her three-year stint with Sweat, founded by Ms Itsines, and that her content still appeared on its app.

It further asserted that her now-concluded contract with Sweat included a 12-month non-compete clause, meaning her own website and app cannot launch until March.

Ms Olholm, however, said her non-compete clause was only for six months, meaning her business could commence from October 12.

Ms Olholm’s contract with Sweat ended in February 2023. Picture: Facebook

On Tuesday, Mr McFarlane said the final year of Ms Olholm’s contract with Bikini Body saw her only promoting Sweat on social media, not generating further content for it.

He said Ms Olholm continued to feature on just four of Sweat’s programs being used by 8739 of its subscribers.

Bikini Body contracted Ms Olholm specifically, he said, because she had a pre-existing “brand and persona” that it wanted to leverage for its own benefit.

It should not, he said, be allowed to stop her using her “own hard work and goodwill” for her own benefit now her contract had ended.

Nick Swan, for Bikini Body, said it would be “difficult, if not impossible” to calculate his client’s financial loss if Ms Olholm launched her app this week, but estimated it could be $1 million.

Sweat had, it said, made Ms Olholm “The face” of its product and given her “prominence” she would otherwise not enjoy – as well as “paying her, very well, for a number of years, a significant amount of money”.

“On Ms Olholm’s Instagram, people are saying ‘I can’t wait to train with you again’ and ‘I follow you on the Sweat app, I will definitely get your app’,” he said.

“That shows there’s a following that’s linked to the Sweat app, which will immediately become less valuable because the face of it will be the face of something else.

“Clearly that’s a substantial matter … a 12 months non-compete clause is not inappropriate, and it’s entirely reasonable.”

Judge Jack Costello will hand down his decision on Thursday.

Originally published as Cass Olholm hits back at the Bikini Body Training Company’s bid to shut down her new app