Sage Words is a reader-supported publication. We need 10 more paid subscribers to meet the Sage Words expenses this quarter. Thank you.
On March 6, 2025, Mel Robbins allowed her daughter, Sawyer Robbins, to have her name on the cover of the book they wrote together. She announced it on Instagram with the message to her daughter on her birthday, “Happy 26th!!! [birthday] … The next print run you’re on the cover” (albeit in a much smaller font size). Are we to interpret that credit for work is being given as a birthday gift, three months after its initial release in which only Mel’s name was on the cover?
This makes me happy for Sawyer Robbins; because every writer deserves credit for their research. Now we continue to campaign for Cassie Phillips to get the credit she also deserves!
Several bold people, who I will feature in this article, had the courage to speak up on behalf of Cassie Phillips; and just like that, the cover of the book changed. Coincidence? Maybe, but my life experience has shown me otherwise. We, the people, have the power to create change when we have the courage to speak up for what’s right. This is a great start to restorative justice. If we all continue to campaign for the name, Cassie Phillips, to also be added to the cover, Mel can decrease the font size of her name to make room for Cassie too. Please allow me to demonstrate again why Cassie’s viral impactful poem “Let Them” deserves to be recognized as the inspiration for the hyper popular book, The Let Them Theory. If Mel doesn’t want to admit that public pressure played a part in this change, that’s okay with me. Whatever she or her team needs to believe, or spin, to do the right thing, let them.
How Can Anyone Claim a Basic Phrase Like “Let Them,” as Original?
The concept of “Let Them” isn’t new, but the popularity of the mantra is. What Mel Robbins did to Cassie Phillips would be akin to Adidas using the slogan “Just Do It” without ever acknowledging that Nike has been using it for years. To add insult to injury, Mel is attempting to trademark the saying, “Let Them,” thereby preventing others from profiting off the two words she didn’t originate but is making a mint from. Imagine trying to trademark “Just Do It” after Nike had been using it for three years. Instead of thinking of Cassie’s poem when you hear “Let Them,” Mel wants you to think of her book.
The theory behind the phrase, “Let Them” can be found in Buddhism, stoicism, the serenity prayer and “radical acceptance” (a concept my book, FREEDOM, published in 2022, refers to as “radical responsibility”). What makes this philosophy unique today, is the catchy two-word mantra that activates the concept: “Let Them.” It has the ability to convey a powerful message. Similar to the “Just Do It” slogan that encouraged us to “go get it,” — “Let Them” encourages us to “let it go.”
“Let Them,” Amazon states, as part of the title of the book, “The life-changing hack that millions of people can’t stop talking about.” In other words, it’s not the book that is life changing, it’s the profound mantra, “Let Them,” which originated in eastern philosophy but was popularized by Cassie Phillips in her viral poem in 2022 and deserves to be credited as such.
Plagiarism?
Beth Stanfield, a trademark attorney, put together an Instagram reel explaining plagiarism and a side by side of what Cassie wrote and published online in 2022 and what Mel “wrote” and Hay House published nearly three years later (one day before 2025).
Below are Cassie’s words, taken from her poem, “Let Them,” side-by-side with Mel’s words, taken from a reel after she says she “discovered” the concept of “Let Them” and started promoting it as her own. If you were a teacher, and you had two students in your classroom who both wrote a paper with the following words, but one wrote it years before the other, would you not call it plagiarism?
Cassie:
If they want to choose something or someone over you, Let Them.
If they want to go weeks without talking to you, Let Them.
If they are ok with never seeing you, Let Them.
If they’re ok with always putting themselves first, Let Them.
If they are showing you who they are and not who you perceive them to be, Let Them.
Just Let Them.
Mel:
If your friends are not inviting you out to brunch this weekend, Let Them.
If they’re not showing up the way you need them to show up, Let Them.
If the person you’re really attracted to is not interested in a commitment, Let Them.
If your kids do not want to get up and go to that thing with you this week, Let Them.
Just Let Them.
Same Idea at the Same Time Theory
A small group of people who are invested in Mel Robbins as their guru have come to her defense using an argument inspired by Elizabeth Gilbert’s book Big Magic, which essentially states that the same story idea can come to two different people at the same time. The important distinction here is that these two “Let Them” theories were not released at the same time. Cassie’s version went viral in 2022, and Mel’s book came out three years later in 2025 (well, technically one day before that on December 31, 2024). That’s not magic; that’s the definition of plagiarism. Equating these two women as having come up with the exact same thing at the same time, but believing Mel sat on it for a year before sharing, is what a friend of mine called, “Defying the laws of probability.” No magic this time, Elizabeth Gilbert fans. To the Mel Minions, know this, Mel is fine. She will be the first one to tell you how great she’s doing. She doesn’t need you up and arms for her; Cassie needs you. Let’s shift the narrative of “punishing Mel” to “protecting Cassie.” Don’t hold up your hero by stepping on the neck of the person your hero has hurt. If you work with Mel Robbins and/or promote her work, while disregarding Cassie Phillips, you are complicit in the crimes committed against her. I hope your conscience will awaken to the justice of bringing Cassie along.
Origin Story Discrepancy
Andy Mort who has the YouTube channel The Gentle Rebel did a fantastic job of illustrating the timeline discrepancy of Mel’s origin story for discovering “The Let Them Theory.” Mel explained over and over in multiple interviews that it was at her son’s prom that the concept of “Let Them” … “just came to her.” The prom took place on May 20, 2023 and the reel Mel made sharing her “discovery” of “Let Them” took place on May 13, 2023. Leaving some to conclude that the prom story while likely real, was manufactured to be the origin story, so that the follow up question of “where did you discover this?” Could be avoided, as that would force Mel to give credit to Cassie, something she is resisting.
Why Hasn’t Mel Acknowledged Cassie?
It’s not because she doesn’t know who she is. Not only are there screenshots of Cassie reaching out to Mel (see below) but The Guardian confronted Mel about Cassie and Mel redirected the question rather than answer it directly.
We have choices in how we receive this information. We can do as Maya Angelou instructed when she said, “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” Or are we can embrace one of my favorite Ancient Greek quotes which is, “Change is the only constant thing in life.” This is an opportunity for us to provide the same grace to Mel Robbins, to give her the benefit of the doubt that she has changed, by inviting her to illustrate her change in character through offering grace to Cassie Phillips by acknowledging her and her work.
In a 2007 interview by Rachel Baker for Boston Magazine, Mel is quoted as saying, “I believe I am a brilliant and gifted guide, that I have been given a tremendous intuition.” Ms. Baker goes on to write, “It’s just that ‘brilliant’ and ‘gifted’ aren’t always among the words they’re using to describe [Mel Robbins]. … I listen to Robbins go on about her ‘blissful’ life, her ‘sick’ wardrobe, how proud she is of her body, how gifted she is at her job. … ‘I’m like the friend who’s already won the marathon of life,’ she says.”
When I read that, it made me feel sad for her. Is it possible that in trying so hard to convince others of her worth, Mel pushes people away? There was one example Mel gave in an interview featured in Andy Mort’s video where she promoted using “Let Them” to garner a feeling of superiority, which I know that is not at the core of any of the beliefs that the philosophy of “Let Them” is built upon. It was particularly prickly for me, as I came to know self-worth through the exact opposite philosophy as I wrote in Sage Words FREEDOM Book One, “Your worth in this world is not because of who you are, but rather that you are. When firefighters run into burning buildings to save lives, they don’t ask to see a comparative list of your failures to your accomplishments before they determine if you are worthy of saving. If you exist, you have worth. When we neither feel inferior nor superior to anyone, we know our worth, and the worth of others.”
The Boston Magazine article continues, ‘“She’s very aggressive, very narcissistic,’ says one former client. ‘A lot of women I know don’t want to be around her; if they know she’s invited to a party or event, they won’t come. I don’t think I’d hire her now. I’d feel like a speck in her universe.’”
While none of us are perfect and we likely all have regrets over past behavior, the above narrative of Mel tracks with the story she tells in her book of her girlfriends going away together and not inviting her. Perhaps this is why Mel was so motivated to write this book, as a way of self-soothing. When we feel excluded, it’s only natural to want to prove our worth to those who rejected us, until we truly do learn the value of “let them” by accepting people as they are and removing ourselves from places where we are unwanted.
We can never know the motive of another, I have wondered if a desire to prove her worth to those who have excluded her is at the heart of some of the things she’s said like “This is the single, biggest, most profound and important thing I’ve ever discovered” “This is my legacy, the thing I was supposed to leave the world.” “I’m one of the top rank podcast hosts in the world. #1 on Audible, #1 on Amazon, #1 on the New York Times, #1 in The Times UK.”
If only I knew these words didn’t first belong to another, I would be a cheerleader for Mel’s accomplishments, as I am for all women, but it’s hard to cheer for someone who is usurping the success that came from the creative writing that belongs to another. The reality remains that no matter how much Mel claims she discovered this and that it’s her words that inspired people to begin getting the words, “Let them” tattooed on their body, the fact is that this movement began with Cassie Phillips; and there’s plenty of online timeline evidence to prove it.
Again, I make my plea for a shared spotlight. I have no desire to take away anyone’s goodness, only to request that it be equally given to all originators of said work.
While the information above isn’t flattering, I still don’t believe in cancel culture. My main goal is to see corrective behavior and acknowledgement of Cassie from Mel.
What Mel Can Say to Rectify the Situation?
The easiest thing Mel can do is simply acknowledge Cassie with a public statement: “It’s come to my attention that there is a poem entitled ‘Let Them’ by a young woman named Cassie Phillips. which went viral before my book, The Let Them Theory came out. It’s only right to acknowledge her and share the spotlight of interest in The Let Them Movement.”
The most generous thing Mel could do is add to the cover of the book, “Inspired by the viral poem ‘Let Them’ by poet Cassie Philips.”
What You Can Do to Help
Add the growing number of articles, YouTube videos, and reels to the Let Them Wikipedia page.
Lastly, here’s a statement from Cassie (including photos)
“Some updates:
• A question that seems to pop up, is if I ever attempted to contact Mel, and if it was an attempt made with kindness. I’d like to provide screenshots with dates of me specifically reaching out to her in Tik Tok since that is where she seemed to respond the most back in May of 2023. Currently, there is a creator on Tik Tok with 800K followers who made a harmful accusation that I led a hate campaign against MR. This accusation was met with me insisting people look online for any facts regarding these allegations. In response to her several misinformed, I was blocked for suggesting people look online for correct documentation. I would really like to ensure that people are just using proper research in this matter. I have led this issue with screenshots typically and even remained quiet for years until multiple trademark applications were filed causing me to have to act.
• I am taking legal advice currently but the best way to support me is to ensure kindness towards those who are not aware of the situation. I want to make sure Let Them and Let Me are being used properly with correct resources as well. A podcast discussing the breakdown of the differences- ‘Nuance Needed’. This podcast includes important discussions for mental health and The Let Them Theory.
Furthermore, the allowing of this type of discredit by celebrities or highly followed content creators to continue can mean something very upsetting for smaller creators, writers, and poets. Our art matters too and holds a special place in society. Our art should not be borrowed or taken without proper credit to the originators. To say someone’s poetry is just words, is to say lyrics are just lyrics in music. But— When you put meaning and impact behind them? They become art from the soul. The issue is that social media and a growing AI presence allow for so much content to be reshaped and shared without credit. However an entire poem and movement being ignored during multiple trademark filings is a bit of a stretch.”
Sage Words is a reader-supported publication. Over a dozen platforms (some global publications) have profited by running pieces on this subject matter, based on the research and source material written by Sage Justice, who has not received any financial compensation in return by those publications. If you found value in this article, please upgrade to a paid subscription. You matter, your dollars matter. Thank you.
If you appreciate this publication, Sage Words, but are unable to afford a subscription, please consider choosing the “Buy Me a Coffee” button when you can. Every little bit helps. Thanks
Thanks for reading Sage Words! This post is public so feel free to share it.
As you mentioned, we must be clear this is not about cancelling Mel but calling her forward into humility and justice, for Cassie, and also as an example that it’s ok to own our mistakes.
Thank you for bringing this to light while also maintaining such respect. It is so important to continue to pursue what is simply the truth which lately seems to get unnecessarily complicated in our world.
I have such respect for you and your work Sage.
Thank you for your ongoing commitment to this.
As you mentioned, we must be clear this is not about cancelling Mel but calling her forward into humility and justice, for Cassie, and also as an example that it’s ok to own our mistakes.
Thank you for bringing this to light while also maintaining such respect. It is so important to continue to pursue what is simply the truth which lately seems to get unnecessarily complicated in our world.