Philly Mag's 'Juicy Story' About The NAC Stirs Up Controversy

NEWTOWN, PA — The Newtown Athletic Club is the focus of a controversial Philadelphia Magazine article that explores the club, its growth, and social scene. The article, titled "Trump, Sex, and G-Strings: The Juicy Story Behind Newtown Athletic Club" was published in this month's issue and has not surprisingly stirred up mixed emotions around town.

Written by Emily Goulet, the article delves into how the club rose from a small facility to — as she describes it — a "hulking, futuristic box of mirrored glass tinted the color of a Caribbean ocean" and a "mini Mar-a-Lago."

Goulet writes: "On its surface, the Newtown Athletic Club is a fancy gym. Members will tell you it’s a country club without a golf course. Non-members will tell you it’s a dividing line in town: “You can tell a lot about somebody just by asking what they think of the NAC. You’re either pro-NAC or against it.'"

In interviews with members, staff, and owner Jim Worthington, Goulet delves into the NAC's unique dynamic as a suburban fitness club and how it has became "an unlikely nexus of power, politics, money, sex and intrigue, a mini-city where thousands of people — including the area’s wealthiest, prettiest and fittest — go to work out and show off."

Not surprisingly, staff members are disputing the piece, calling it "biased and unfair."

Linda Mitchell, the gym's PR director who was interviewed by Goulet, wrote on the magazine's Facebook page: "I can say with certainty that it is biased and unfair not only to the genuinely hardworking employees but also to the more than 12,000 members."

The article, which you can read in its entirety by clicking here, has generated some mixed reactions: some have taken to social media to chime in with their own concerns and reservations about the club. Others are defending the NAC, calling the piece mean-spirited and tasteless.

"So sad this article was written with an agenda instead of showing all the good Jim Worthington and the Newtown Athletic Club does for everyone in the community. The staff is great and I’ve met some of nicest people in the world there. The NAC stands for so much more than is portrayed here," one member wrote on the magazine's Facebook page.

The piece is gaining traction on the magazine's website, where as of Monday afternoon it sat in the No. 1 "trending" spot.