Mel Robbins and Plagiarism

Meet Cassie Phillips, the original author of Let Them

Photo of Cassie Phillips published October 2022.

It was New Year’s Day 2025; and to help set my intentions for the year, I chose a self-help audible to accompany me on a day’s long nature hike: The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins. I thought, how cool for someone famous to take a poem written by an unknown and turn it into a book. I was looking forward to hearing about the woman who originated the entire “Let Them Movement” (not to be confused with originating the philosophy of “let Them” as a concept), Cassie Phillips, in her poem Let Them that went viral in 2022 after she got a tattoo of the words she penned.

Unfortunately, credit to the originator was never given. I listened to the entire book, even the appendix, special thanks acknowledgments and closing credits-twice; nowhere did I hear, “Thank you to the woman who wrote the viral poem that I based an entire book upon.” My heart sunk at the thought that yet another unknown writer sharing her insights and inspiration on social media might have had her work plagiarized, unacknowledged, and stolen without credit or financial compensation.

Then I came across a social media post by Mel Robbins promoting her book to which I commented, “I’m confused. I just listened to your book where you mention several times that your daughter Sawyer co-wrote it with you, but I didn’t see her name on the cover as a co-author. I also don’t understand how you can say you discovered this ‘theory’ when Let Them was written by Cassie Phillips. Not to mention themes and quotes I recognized from my own book.” [Edit: two months after this Substack article was published, a new print of the cover of the book was released with Sawyer’s name, albeit in a much smaller font size than Mel’s name.]

In perfect social media fashion, someone tagged Cassie Phillips, she replied to my comment, and I reached out to her directly to understand more. This is an abridged (and sometimes paraphrased) version of our conversation, published with her permission.

The Interview with Cassie Phillips

Sage: I’m sorry this is happening to you; and when it happens to one of us, it happens to all. May I ask what the original date was that you posted your Let Them poem? The least Mel could have done is say the book was inspired by your poem. That’s what I do when I publish: always give credit to the inspiration. If we don’t speak up [when our work is used without credit]- [more established authors] will keep doing this.

Cassie: The POEM that went viral was in September of 2022 because I decided to get it tattooed. The LET ME version was October of 2022.

Mel’s Video on her finding Let Them and “frigging loving it” was made in May of 2023 on Tik Tok.

She [ended] up using that to build an entire following about it. She announced her [book] releasing in September/October of 2024 saying she dedicated 2 years to creating the theory, but [she] had only been involved for 1.5 year building a fandom and incorrectly explaining it.

Sage: So [Mel Robbins] did not create the LET ME concept, either?!

Cassie: The poem is the most frequently circulated version that was popularized. But the LET ME even more specifically came from me as well. Hold on, and I will show you!“

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Here are screenshots and the dates that Cassie posted (a form of publishing) her original works.

Cassie: This was a follow up in April of 2023. Still before [Mel Robbins] joined the [Let Them] Movement. The original works were written in 2019. Here is the “Let You” as well. Mel Robbins began trademark attempts in 2024.

Sage: I attended a gathering with her publishers (Hay House) in which they encouraged their authors to use A.I. which is just another way of encouraging them to plagiarize because AI is trained off of our words [those of us who share on public platforms to inspire others].

I’m a union member of SAG-AFTRA, and I walked for nearly half a year, in a heat wave, on the picket line, during a strike, to get AI out of that industry; and I’ll do the same for us as content creator originators and independent writers. I don’t think I can stop AI, but I can awaken the do-the-right-thing-conscience of authors and publishers—at least through public pressure and awareness.

Cassie: It angers me that [writers with] larger followings can do as they please! If we don’t take a stand, what does this mean for the beginning writers? To allow this to continue, means that larger followed authors or writers can commit theft, use AI, and steal from originators for FOLLOWS and for MONEY. This violates everything writers stand for.

Sage: [I agree] I published my book in 2022. Then Hay House writers came out with the books WORTHY and LET THEM, which heavily mirror concepts from my book, FREEDOM. The hypocrisy of “spiritual people” who steal from those who have less fame and finances and can’t even offer a hand up with a shout out that it was their words that inspired them can be heartbreaking and financially devastating. If Louise Hay were still alive today, I don’t think she’d approve of how her publishing house is being run.

—-end of interview—-

Timeline Recap

2019: Cassie Phillips writes the poem “Let Them.”

2022 (September): The poem “Let Them” by Cassie Phillips goes viral

2022: (October): The poem “Let You” by Cassie Phillips goes viral

2023: (May 13): Mel Robbins makes viral TikTok sharing discovery of “Let Them.”

2023: (May 20): The prom where Mel claims the origin story of her “discovery”

2024: (May) Mel Robbins files to trademark the phrase “Let Them”

2024: (September/October) Mel Robbins announced she wrote a “Let Them” book.

2024: (December) Hay House publishes Mel Robbins book, “The Let Them Theory.”

The Entitlement of Plagiarism

Mel Robbins is a former Lawyer. Attorneys are trained to find ways to avoid accountability and prevent liability. As a country, America has been victim to a myriad of injustices that have weakened our nation through divide and conquer techniques. The only way we are going to survive is to rise up, one voice at a time, and take a stand. No matter what defense Mel Robins gives for not giving credit to Cassie Phillips, we, as a collective, should not allow gaslighting that denies our reality. We all know that it was Cassie’s poem that went viral two years before Mel’s book was published, and Cassie deserves credit—not because she’s motivated by fame, but because she’s motivated by justice and protecting the rights of all writers and independent artists. The very least Mel could have done was to acknowledge Cassie as inspiring her. The poem was viral! It wasn’t in a vacuum. If we stay silent, we are complicit and might as well be the enslaved fools on the sidelines of the parable “The Emperor Wears No Clothes.” We must speak up, speak out, and say, “Hey! This isn’t right! Give credit where credit is due.”

How to Rectify the Situation

My desire is to give people grace and take heed when calling people out, to neither shame nor incite cancel culture, but rather call into right action. I want to give Mel the benefit of the doubt. Maybe she was poorly advised. Maybe she offered her daughter a co-author credit and her daughter refused. Maybe Mel really didn’t mean to usurp the tattoo movement started by Cassie because she genuinely believes that all the tattoos are because of the Tik Tok video she made viral and not because Cassie, herself, started that ball rolling when she got the (presumed) first tattoo of “Let them,” years ago. Giving grace, however, does not mean making excuses for. Mel Robbins had options. She made choices, and I’m suggesting that she be encouraged to make new choices.

Toni Morrison is quoted as saying, “When you get these jobs that you have been so brilliantly trained for, just remember that your real job is that if you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower someone else.”

Mel Robbins has the power to acknowledge Cassie Phillips as the original source of her inspiration for The Let Them Theory; and until she does, maybe people will pause buying her books.

Here’s the original Let Them poem that went viral in 2022, written by Cassie Phillips.

You can find her on Instagram @Cassie.Phillips.Letthem Learn more about her and her upcoming book from her website. Beware that someone claiming to be her wrote a book and published it on Amazon and that book is not hers. Please support Cassie Phillips. Everything you could learn from the book “written” by Mel Robbins is in the poems Cassie shares for free here.

Remember, we vote with our dollars; and buying Mel’s book could be a vote for plagiarism. If you’ve already purchased the book or audible, you have the option of returning them. Let us not reward plagiarism. Thank you.

Please follow along and read the full story … which is still in progress.

Part one: Mel Robbins and Plagiarism: Meet Cassie Phillips, the original author of Let Them

Part two: Can Mel Robbins Trademark Your Words? Let’s Find Out

Part three: Mel Robbins, Cassie Phillips & The Courage to do the Right Thing

Part four: Beware: This Book is Not by the Real Cassie Phillips

Part five: Public Pressure & Mel Robbins: You Helped Make this Happen

Part six: Usurped: Class Action Suit to Follow

Sage Justice is an award-winning playwright and critically acclaimed performing artist who has appeared on stages from Madison Square Garden in New York City, to The Comedy Store in Hollywood, California. Ms. Justice is the author of Sage Words FREEDOM Book One, a humanitarian activist, a member of the Screen Actors Guild and an alumna Artist-In-Residence of Chateau Orquevaux, France. Sage is intensely sincere. Balancing wisdom and humor she most often writes deeply personal solution based pieces about the enduring virtues that connect us all: love and healing. She has a series of short reels about living with the rare genetic disorder, Vascular Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome that you can find in a highlight reel on her Instagram page @SageWords2027. She’s very grateful for your support. ¹

Edit correction on January 25, 2025. Previously, there were two contradictory dates listed as the month/year that Mel Robbins joined the “Let Them” movement: May 2023 and May 2024. The correct date is May 2023. In light of this correction and for clarification purposes, I’ve added a new section to this article, from Cassie Phillips, entitled: Timeline Recap. For simplicity and consistency sake, with the author’s approval, I have also removed her middle initial B from all references to Cassie Phillips, formerly refered to as Cassie B. Phillips.

Edit corrections on March 24, 2025. Broken links to Cassie’s book were removed and replaced with her website. New links were added to this ongoing story including the addition of Sawyer Robbins name to the cover. Photo credit and minor updates to bio. One addition was made to the timeline: the significant detail that illustrates the discrepancy in the Mel Robbins “Let Them origin story.” She claims the theory came to her at her son’s prom on May 20, 2023 but the viral TikTok she made about the discovery (likely Cassie’s poem) was a week prior on May 13, 2023. Thus revealing the manufactured origin story of her “discovery.”

Edit corrections on June 12, 2025. Distinction made between originator of the “Let Them Movement” (tattoos, merchandise, etc.) and origination of the age old philosophical concept of “Let Them.”

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1. Photo of Sage Justice by Margot Hartford @MargoHartfordArt