Matt Cameron has built a reputation on two things: a taste for blunt pronouncements and an unapologetically high-flying lifestyle.
The 46-year-old property entrepreneur, who swapped Sydney for a luxury Bali villa 18 months ago, has long courted controversy on Instagram.
But his newest post, in which he declared he would ‘never do business with a fat person’, has turned polite disagreement into a full-blown online feud.
Matt’s video carried a scathing caption outlining that the business world is already a brutal place.
‘Why would I gamble my money and my future by working with someone who cannot even control themselves?’ he added.
He then outlined six reasons underpinning his views on obesity – beginning with a lack of discipline, slowness in decision-making, weakness under pressure, emotional instability, low standards and, crucially for him, a lack of credibility.
‘If that offends you, toughen up,’ he said. ‘Do something about it or go do business with someone else.’
According to Matt, his views aren’t just based on aesthetics, he sees them as a risk calculation.
Matt Cameron (pictured wit wife Felicity, 34) has built a reputation on two things: a taste for blunt pronouncements and an unapologetically high-flying lifestyle
The 46-year-old entrepreneur, who left Sydney for a Bali 18 months ago, has always courted controversy – but his latest claim that he’d ‘never do business with a fat person’ has sparked a huge online backlash
In a clarifying statement to Daily Mail, he insisted he was referring to the genuinely obese, not those just a bit overweight, and repeatedly framed his stance as pragmatic, not personal.
‘I’m not classifying anyone who’s a size 16 or 18 as fat, I’m talking about people who are grossly overweight. There’s a big difference.’
And from his vantage point as an investor, husband and father, discipline equals reliability.
‘Business can be so complicated and full of risk, and my job is to limit as much of that risk as possible,’ he added.
‘Credibility is also built through proof of discipline and follow-through. [But] where there is lack of discipline, inconsistency, [and] avoidance of discomfort – it can appear in professional behaviour when pressure mounts.’
He claims that the patterns of behaviour behind poor health choices often mirror those that emerge in business and personal life.
‘When things get hard, they crack, and business is nothing but pressure. Why would I risk that?’
That line of thinking, equating self-care with business acumen, is the beating heart of Matt’s philosophy and his wider online persona, where he only surrounds himself with people who ‘hold themselves to similar expectations.’
In a clarifying message to the Daily Mail, he insisted he was talking specifically about obesity and repeatedly framed his stance as pragmatic, not personal
He claims that the patterns of behaviour behind poor health choices often mirror those that emerge in business and personal life
Predictably, that calculus has split his audience with some followers applauding his frankness – and others completely slamming it.
‘Sad but true,’ one wrote. ‘I find this is legit every time I do my due diligence. I always keep my mind open, but discipline factor is hard to beat.’
‘I’ve always said this, and people look at me shocked!’ another wrote.
‘If someone can’t control their weight, then how can I trust them to do a job for me at the best of their ability.’
‘I know a lot of skinny people who can’t control themselves as well… so this doesn’t make sense?’ one sceptic observed, while another accused him of internal turmoil.
‘This post tells me that you’re running on cortisol and inner rejection of a lot of parts of yourself that probably want a rest,’ they wrote.
‘I wouldn’t go into business with someone who hates themselves.’
He argued that poor health habits often reflect the same patterns seen in business and personal life – outlining the same rules apply when comes to his wife Felicity, 34 (pictured). If she became grossly overweight, he would leave her
When Matt pushed the argument into his private life in a second post just days later, the fallout intensified further.
He outlined the same rules in business apply to his family too – especially when it comes to his wife Felicity, 34.
‘We agreed from day one to hold ourselves to the highest standard physically, mentally, and emotionally. And the second we stop, it’s over,’ Matt doubled down.
Expanding on that, he was crystal clear that if Felicity became grossly overweight, he would leave her.
‘And I would expect her to leave me too.’
He explained that for him the commitment to fitness is part of the marital ‘deal’ they struck about the example they want to set for their children and the kind of home they wish to create.
He explained that for him the commitment to fitness is part of the marital ‘deal’ they struck about the example they want to set for their children and the kind of home they wish to create. Pictured: Matt (front left) with his partner Felicity, 34, and her two children
It was his second claim that really struck a nerve – and, in a twist that’s both fascinating and shocking, the comments about his wife’s weight were split right down the middle.
‘I would love my wife heart and soul even if she put on weight because I married her for her personality and spiritual qualities,’ one follower answered with devotion.
‘I pray that this love may never find me,’ another joked about Matt’s harsh views.
‘Holding each other to a high standard, proactively trying not to get complacent in your relationship, encouraging each other to stay healthy, strong, fit – this is all positive and leads to better outcomes,’ another agreed.
‘It’s love and care, and caring about attraction.’
Raised in Sydney’s eastern suburbs and educated at an elite private school, Matt has built a property and retail career that allowed him to relocate his family to Bali, where he extols the financial and lifestyle benefits of life overseas.
He speaks openly about wealth, standards and freedom, practising the self-discipline he expects from others. With privilege and a public platform, his comments pack extra punch – and Matt makes no apologies for his blunt personal views
He talks publicly about wealth, standards and freedom, and he practices the kind of self-discipline he expects of others.
That combination, cultural privilege, wealth, and a public platform, makes his statements even more explosive.
Whatever one’s view of his logic, Matt professes no appetite for nuance when it comes to his personal choices.
‘This is not about offending anyone, it is just my truth and my experience,’ he said.
Whether his audience sees that as blunt honesty, dangerous stereotyping, or something in between will depend on their own view of discipline, risk and what – if anything – physical appearance should reveal about character.
For now, Matt’s moral and commercial boundaries have been made public, and his audience remains divided between those who see a useful blunt instrument of accountability and those who see brittle judgementalism that risks conflating health with worth.
Either way, his posts have done what he hoped they would and provoked the conversation.
Now it’s left to the internet to decide where the line should be drawn.
