Since Katie Zacharia first appeared behind the White House podium this week, details of her past have become increasingly puzzling. A review by WIRED of deleted social‑media and professional networking profiles has clarified at least one gap. Her online résumé shows an employment hiatus from 2013 to late 2023, during which she was an affiliate for Beachbody, a fitness company that operated a multilevel marketing model she described to WIRED as “sort of a pyramid scheme.”
Zacharia’s early career has drawn intense curiosity. Before joining the White House press team she served as a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, a communications adviser for Donald Trump’s media company, and a commentator on Newsmax and Fox News. Other aspects of her background, especially her legal experience, have also been examined. Her LinkedIn page lists her as an associate at the Chinese “red‑circle” law firm Zhong Lun from 2011 to 2013 and as general counsel for the nonprofit Fix California. Tax filings, however, indicate that she was actually a fundraiser for the organization.
Journalist Judd Legum reported that Zacharia, who has been identified as an attorney in at least 18 Fox News appearances, never passed a bar exam. The Wall Street Journal later confirmed that she sat for the California bar exam but failed, a finding WIRED independently verified. On Wednesday, the watchdog group Campaign for Accountability filed a complaint with the State Bar of California to investigate Zacharia’s attorney claims.
WIRED used a leaked‑online database compiled by open‑source intelligence firm District 4 Labs to examine a deleted LinkedIn account that listed Beachbody email addresses as contacts. A Beachbody representative told WIRED there was no record of her as an employee, and Zacharia confirmed by phone that she had never been hired by the company.
Instead, Zacharia said she worked as an affiliate marketer for Beachbody after returning from China in 2013. She recalled a friend introducing her to the role and promoting the company’s Shakeology “superfood nutrition shake.” She stopped using and promoting the product because of concerns about its vitamin A content while she was pregnant.
Beachbody, now called BODi, issued a statement confirming that Zacharia was among its roughly 300,000 independent Team Beachbody distributors in 2013. The company added that it would be misleading to equate her time there with BODi’s current business practices.
The company’s multilevel marketing model has faced numerous legal challenges. It was accused of false advertising for an anti‑aging treatment (the suit was voluntarily dismissed) and of making misleading income promises to contractors. Beachbody also won a default judgment in a copyright dispute with Orderlegalsteroids.com over an image of Israeli bodybuilder Sagi Kalev used in its “BODY BEAST” program.
In 2017, Beachbody settled a $3.6 million consumer‑protection lawsuit with Santa Monica’s city attorney without admitting wrongdoing. Prosecutors claimed the firm made unsubstantiated health claims about products such as Shakeology and automatically charged customers for renewals without consent. The settlement required a $1 million payment to health‑and‑nutrition nonprofits.
A 2023 class‑action lawsuit alleged that the company scammed its coaches; the lead plaintiff, a teacher, said she spent $20,000 on coaching expenses while earning about $50 per month for roughly 50 hours of work. The following year Beachbody abandoned its multilevel structure in favor of a single‑level affiliate model, and in 2025 it settled the class action, leading to dismissal of all claims.
In a statement to WIRED, BODi described Team Beachbody as a peer‑to‑peer sales and support network that helped “tens of millions of people pursue their health goals” through programs such as P90X, Insanity, 21 Day Fix, and nutrition products like Shakeology.
Zacharia’s résumé entry places her among other prominent Trump‑affiliated figures who have shown a keen interest in supplement businesses. Former FBI chief Kash Patel promoted “detox” supplements for Covid‑19 vaccines, surgeon‑general nominee Nicole Saphier reported nearly $300,000 in income from her own supplement line, and former President Donald Trump once oversaw The Trump Network, a multilevel marketing venture selling vitamins, home urine tests, and children’s health products.