Susan Powter’s Call to 'Stop the Insanity' Resonates More Than Ever
- - Susan Powter’s Call to 'Stop the Insanity' Resonates More Than Ever
Lucille BarillaNovember 23, 2025 at 10:52 PM
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In the 1990s, Susan Powter was one of the first wellness influencers. Before Instagram and TikTok, she took over late-night television with a simple message, “Stop the Insanity,” as a way to get Americans to take a good, hard look at the weight loss industry and how they could control their own health and wellness.
For years, she was a television personality and weight-loss advocate, offering advice and practical guidance as a self-described “housewife who figured it out.” Powter built a fitness empire valued at more than $200 million—only to lose it all. A string of poor business deals pushed her to the brink, and by 1995, she had officially declared bankruptcy.
In an interview with Parade, Powter accepted full responsibility for her financial collapse, admitting she never monitored her bank statements or questioned where her millions went. But she never imagined the fall from being a famed fitness guru and wellness influencer to a food delivery driver trying to make ends meet and why her call to "Stop the Insanity" resonates now more than ever.
This transformation is highlighted in the new documentary Stop The Insanity: Finding Susan Powter. Even while working an Uber Eats delivery shift in Las Vegas, the city she now calls home, Powter never believed her story was truly finished.
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Our interview began on a nostalgic note, where I showed Powter my own collection of her books and videos, telling her how her message resonated with me in the 1990s and beyond. She laughed, saying that at the time, people thought she was too over the top; too loud, too much.
However, I reminded her that no matter how she was portrayed in the media, her simple message of health and wellness was, at its core, relatable and easy. It allowed people to feel empowered instead of shamed by failing at the hands of the diet industry.
“The message broke through,” she said. “I always say, remember the film Norma Rae, when Sally Field stood up to protest and the mill ground to a stop? The women of America heard a humorous voice about the circumstances that were difficult. They heard the truth about fitness, about eating. The diet industry didn’t like me because I was making it simple, truthful, honest.”
However, in the years Powter stepped out of the spotlight (and raised adult sons Damien, Kiel, and adopted son Gabriel), there was always a curiosity from those who followed her career closely about how she was and what she was doing. As her public presence faded, so did any clear understanding of her day-to-day life, fueling speculation and quiet concern among longtime followers.
Obscured Pictures
In 2024, Powter was approached by filmmaker Zeberiah Newman to tell her story. Her only request was that he tell the truth. Oscar winner Jamie Lee Curtis lent her backing as an executive producer to the film.
Powter said that over the past two decades, she was unaware of the level of love that followed her story. She said, “The love, I didn’t know. It really affected me.”
She added, “I never called myself a fitness guru. Never. The press did. I called myself a housewife that figured it out and got pissed off. I think that’s a much better tagline, don’t you?”
Obscured Pictures
When I suggested to Powter that we all move through different stages and seasons of life, she agreed. What matters, she added, is how a person survives the core of those challenges and emerges from them.
“I never stopped working,” Powter explained. “I never thought I couldn’t work my way out of anything.”
“Everybody thinks, ‘oh this is a movie,’ and it’s gonna be like a VH1 behind the scenes stuff. This film is indie all the way. I just wanted my story to get to the audience. Get it to the people that made Stop The Insanity everything it ever was.”
She concluded, "Life is richer now, it has more intensity now and this story has a broader reach. Everything has changed since the '90s. That's what I'm so excited about. You want to know who I am? This is me."
Stop the Insanity: Finding Susan Powter was released in select theaters on November 19, 2025, and is also available on demand. A streaming release is planned for December 2025.
This story was originally reported by Parade on Nov 23, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
