Hawaiian Surfer Kelia Moniz Shares the Truth About Her Split from Roxy

Jade Eckardt
·2 min read
2

For generations of female surfers, Roxy Girls were the epitome of women's surfing.

Hawaiian longboarder and two-time world champ Kelia Moniz lived that Roxy Girl dream for 17 years. Until now.

Today, she announced that her Roxy ride is over and shared the harsh truth behind it.

She posted the video today and captioned it:

"Fresh Start for 2024!! After Almost 18 years of being a Roxy Girl. What a ride, thank you to those who believed in me, you know who you are.

"And to those who didn’t, thank you for making me stronger than ever before. This is a long watch but it’s from the heart, and it’s the truth.

"And to be very clear, This is not the end for me, IT’S JUST THE BEGINNING !!! To all my girls, I LOVE YOU ALL!!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR. - Sis video: @mattkuji"

At the start of the video, Moniz announces her split from Roxy in a monologue invoking warm, fuzzy feelings and goosebumps.

Then she drops a bomb.

A voice behind the camera asks:

"So what was the real reason you're leaving Roxy?"

Moniz lets it rip:

"After Covid, I signed the best contract that I've ever landed in my athletic career.

"It took a lot for my team and I to get here, and this contract was supposed to last another year.

"Unfortunately, after the buyout of Roxy, the contract was terminated. And then they offered me a ninety percent pay cut to re-sign.

"After years of fighting for fair pay and equality, there was just no way I was signing that deal, especially knowing I wasn't the only athlete that this was happening to.

"I'm not about to be strong-armed by some corporation who not only knows nothing about the sport but doesn't give a shit about it...

"I'm leaving because if I took this deal, I'd be setting the industry standards for girls who look like me and surf like me and I simply want nothing to do with that."

There's a lot more. So press play above to hear it for yourself.

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