Meet Rita Utterback: A South Carolina Nutritionist who called Jews & Israelis "Animals"
The South Carolina nutritionist Rita Utterback has come under fire after she sent an unsolicited message to a Jewish journalist, calling Jews “animals” and hoping that they “never know peace.”
“If no one has told you today, you’re a broken, ugly, hateful Nazi” said Utterback in an unpromoted message to Mazelit Airaksinen, a journalist who frequently posts on X about the victims of the October 7 2023 attack on Israel.
“We’ve seen. What you animals teach your kids… wait for Israel to be sanctioned… And your criminal IDF suffer the exact fate they deserve. May you disgusting predators never know peace” added Utterback.
THE ANTAGONIST
Rita Utterback (nee Elkhabbaz), is a wellness coach and nutritionist in Florence County South Carolina. She claims to be Arab and has some Lebanese heritage, according to public social media posts that she privated not long after she sent Airaksinen that screed of hate.
Through her business, Radiate with Rita, she offers services such as a one time holistic wellness assessment including the ability to text with her through Zoom for $425. Or a more comprehensive analysis for $959, according to her website.
To note, she is not a Registered Dietician. Instead of a degree in nutritional health or medicine, she is certified by the National Association of Sports and Medicine as a Personal Trainer and Nutrition Coach.
Of all accounts, she seems to be a popular nutritionist in South Carolina, with many glowing testimonials on her website.
On Sunday at 6:20AM, Utterback was triggered by something that the journalist wrote on social media, and lashed out using her business instagram account, @radiate_withrita. It is unclear what exactly caused her to lash out.
It appears as if Utterback saw Airaksinen’s posts about the victims of the October 7th attack on Israel by Hamas and became angry. When Airaksinen responded and asked why the nutritionist was upset with her, Utterback accused her of supporting “the genocide” in Gaza.
THE RESPONSE
But when Airaksinen asked Utterback to identify any of her posts that were supportive of starving people or killing people in Gaza, Utterback admitted she could not find any and blocked the journalist.
Airaksinen then posted on X and Instagram about the incident, and Physicians Against Antisemitism — the largest watchdog group against Jew-hate in healthcare — posted about the incident to warn their Jewish followers and allies in South Carolina.
Shortly after, Utterback deleted most of her social media accounts, took down her contact pages, and deleted most of the pages on her business’s website. There is currently no way to reach out to her, and therefore could not be reached for comment.
Mazelit Toni Airaksinen declined to comment for this article. However, she did post on Instagram after the incident to talk about the fear she faces from getting internet harassment for being Jewish and writing about the October 7th attack on Israel.
“This should never be OK. Utterback also accused me of defending the ‘genocide’ in Gaza, when I’ve barely even talked about it" wrote Airaksinen.
"I don’t talk about politics. I don’t talk about the Palestinians. I don’t talk about Bibi. I don’t praise the IDF. All I do is run a memorial account dedicated to the hostages and victims of October 7th,” wrote Airaksinen.
“When I learned that the 10/7 attack resulted in a hostage situation, I immediately felt called to raise awareness of their plight.. seeing other hostages broke my heart,” said Airaksinen.
"Since then, I’ve posted more than 1000 posts about the 250 hostages that Hamas took, and the 1,000 people they killed. Since I started tweeting about them, I’ve gotten over 50 million views on those posts alone between Twitter and Threads."
"I asked Rita Utterback — who works with women facing gut health/endo/nutrition issues — if what she wrote to me should be interpreted as a threat. She did not answer clearly” added Airaksinen.
“It’s 2025. Messaging a random Jew to call Jews “animals” and calling us “disgusting predators” is atrocious. I still can’t believe she used her business account to contact me. It was terrifying, I’m used to faceless accounts harassing me — but not real people.”
“I get unsolicited threatening messages every day, but they are usually from small accounts with no face or name. I'm just stunned. I would say I'm terrified, but I say that too much."
Solomon Uzi is a college student living in Brooklyn, NYC. He is pursuing a BA in Terrorism Studies.
