this is "nightline." >> tonight, keeping up the six-pack abs while pregnant? should these women be admired as healthy role models? the fierce, online backlash. moms quest for physical perfection all the way through pregnancy and beyond. plus, turns out tickling is now a thing. and a sport. the bizarre controversy springing up around competitive tickling. and the sundance documentary on what turns out to be a supremely touchy subject. when then meets now. amping it up '80s style with greatest hits, like "jesse's

girl"reo speedwagon and pit bull. but first, the "nightline" five -- >> i take zero heart burn. >> number one, in just 60 seconds.

good evening. and we start here tonight with a controversy that combines two american obsessions.

body size and social media. we're talking about so-called fit moms, women who workout aggressively while pregnant. all the while, posting pictures and videos on instagram. the backlash has been intense. and here's my "nightline" co-anchor, juju chang. ♪ >> reporter: it seems nothing will prevent 31-year-old stacy from getting to the gym. not even pregnancy. she spent so much of her life training for fitness competitions, a three-time champion of miss world pro. but now, stacy's famous for being fit in another way. she's a so-called fit mom. stacy's part of a group of instagram mothers or mothers-to-be, who gained social stardom for the highly-ambitious workout routines, baby or not. >> they're working out. walking every day or crossfit every day. that's what a fit mom is. >> reporter: stacie, who gave birth to her first, aidan, in

march, says she worked up for the entirety of her pregnancy. >> my workout routine had six days a week of weight training. and three days of cardiovascular. i was doing box jumps. as long as i felt good, i would do that. >> reporter: she decided to document it on her instagram account. sharing her workouts and belly photos with her followers. >> a lot of people see me as inspiration, i felt like the next chapter, i have to show them, you can workout when you're pregnant, as long as you feel good. >> reporter: with the popularity came backlash. the more attention her account got, the more criticism she got. >> somebody said gross. somebody put a weird face. someone who has battled weight all their life, it's hard to view this without wincing. >> reporter: this new mother knows what it's like to feel the internet's wrath. >> my babe justice is going to

die. and my baby is going to hang itself with its umbilical cord. >> reporter: like stacie, she worked out intensely through her pregnancy. >> i worked out until the day i gave birth. i did 30 years on the dread mill. i did barbell curls. >> reporter: sharing every step on instagram. >> a lot of the ladies that follow me, they seek inspiration, in keeping fit during pregnancy. >> reporter: it used to be women were criticized for gaining what some say was too much weight during pregnancy. celebs like jessica simpson, kelly clarkson, or kim kardashian. stacie was too in shape. >> somebody wrote, she didn't let her body to stretch. she will end up with a muffin top and probably have surgery to correct it. >> by looking at photos together, they there creates a

mob mentality. >> reporter: robyn silverman says the media fuels the shaming culture. >> it creates a community that shouts, rather than simply says what's on their mind. >> reporter: lingerie model, sarah stage, had a similar experience. here, she's nine months pregnant. >> how is the baby doing? >> baby is good. >> kicking? >> a lot. >> reporter: she decided to document her pregnancy on instagram. sharing photos of her slender bump with her 2 million follo r followers. >> taking a selfie in the mirror in lingerie, i was doing that before i was pregnant. to show my belly, i was excited. i don't think it was anything odd or strange or unique. i think a lot of people tsh-- at of women document their pregnancy. >> reporter: but not all women can bounce back from pregnancy, like these fit moms.

people posting hateful comments like, where is the baby hiding at? definitely not in her tummy. another writing, i'm confused. is she giving birth to a pickle? >> i don't know how someone can say that to a pregnant woman. i think that's so rude. >> women tend to shame other women for a variety of reasons. other people may shame because they truly believe that if it is the case, that a woman can be thin, and pregnant, that, perhaps, they have themselves not done a good enough job while they are pregnant. >> reporter: and by looking at sarah's photos, many questioned the health of her unborn baby. nine months alock, sarah worked out with a trainer twice a week. and managed to keep up her defined abs. >> the baby has been moving? >> reporter: sarah has been seeing dr. george petsuta in pasadena, california. this is one of the final appointments. >> there's the baby's heart

petpet beat. >> reporter: the doctor says he sees patients like sarah often. and every woman's body responds differently to pregnancy. >> the size of the belly varies from person-to-person. for patients who are fit and athletic, because of their muscle tone, they may not show. >> as much. >> as much. >> i'm just pregnant and excited. and i don't think any woman should compare themselves. >> reporter: stacie, who is a personal trainer says much of her shape during her pregnancy, came from years of athletic work. >> i had a solid core because my body has been so fit leading up to this. it was going to take a lot just to get a big, giant belly. >> reporter: according to the american congress of obstetricians and gynecologists, exercising is recommended during pregnancy. and, quote, physical activity does not increase your risk of miscarriage, low birthrate or early delivery." but they recommend that you get

the okay from your health care professional. >> i guess they're stuck in old age thinking that pregnant women should, you know, not workout. >> reporter: but it was after having her baby that fit mom cia cooper got the most flak. >> a lot of my readers asked me, can you post pictures after birth? can you document yourself losing the baby weight. i got backlash. that i'm boasting. >> reporter: but she says she lost most of that weight after giving birth. watching what she said. >> reporter: sarah gave birth to a baby boy last year. and is proud of the body she showed off on social media. >> i'm doing me. i don't feel like i should have anything to hide and be ashamed of. i'm so excited. i'm so happy. why not share it with everybody? >> reporter: a sentiment that stacie and fit moms everywhere,

say they can get pumped up about. for "nightline," i'm juju chang in new york. next here, competitive, endurance tickling. it's a real thing, among actual adults. so, why is a new documentary on the subject the source of such fierce controversy tonight? later, who are your going to call when listing the greatest hits? hits? ghostbusters, anybody? to shut everybody else up about me quitting smoking. i was going to give it a try, but i didn't really think it was going to really happen. after one week of chantix, i knew i could quit. along with support, chantix (varenicline) is proven to help people quit smoking. chantix definitely helped reduce my urge to smoke. some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. some had seizures while taking chantix. if you have any of these, stop chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of mental health problems, which could get worse or of seizures.

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tickling. as the father of a 1-year-old, i

do quite a bit of it these days. but it turns out tickling is also a thing among consenting adults. it sounds reasonably benign. why has a new documentary about competitive tickling created such an uproar? here's abc's david wright. >> reporter: competitive endurance tickling. you heard me. competitive endurance tickling. this is a video produced by a website called jane o'brien media, one of the odder cul-de-sacs on the internet. odd enough to tickle the fancy of david farrier. >> i thought, this is the craziest story of all-time. >> reporter: i didn't know tickling was a thing. >> neither did we. >> reporter: there's a market for these videos. and according to farrier and his co-director, there's a menacing side, too. they followed the breadcrumbs and opened themselves up to

taunts and legal threats. "tickled" at sundance and on hbo, is the focus of a bizarre controversy. >> you think i shoot pornography with clothes on? >> reporter: with representatives of the tickling community attending the premieres, accusing the filmmakers of distorting what they do. you say it's a hatchet job. >> that's a polite word for it. >> reporter: the filmmakers insist that's not the case. it started innocently enough. >> i reached out to this company saying, i'm curious about this tickling competition. what's it about? and the first rely on the public facebook wall was we don't want to deal with a homosexual journalist. >> there's guys over there. undeniably homo erotic. >> reporter: the exchanges got more hot tile from there. >> i'm shooting a documentary. >> i understand what you think you're doing. i'm not going to allow you to

treat me without respect. >> people are passionate about it. >> reporter: this is a full-time job for you? >> it's a full-time job. >> reporter: richard ivy has his own tickling site, unrelated to jane o'brien media. his site laz men in various stages of undress. and the tickling isn't always limited to the torso and the legs. he invited the filmmakers to obseron observe a session. >> 70% of the scenes are clothed. they're after the tickling. >> reporter: is this pornography? >> it's erotica. >> reporter: it's uncomfortable to watch. >> i think the turn-on is a power over someone. >> reporter: seeing someone with a six-pack squirm. >> and do it in a playful way. >> reporter: some of the videos are overtly sexual. jane o'brien media insists its videos are not sexual in any way.

jane o'brien videos feature young, fit guys, fitness models. promising the models high pay. no adult content ever. >> sometimes i'm very ticklish or extremely ticklish. >> reporter: but the filmmakers allege that the practices are not all so innocent. they interviewed former fitness models like t.j., who said he was paid handsomely for appearing in the videos. >> i don't think it's been fun. >> reporter: he eventually had a change of heart and asked him to take down the videos featuring him. he says youtube ultimately did remove the videos at his request. and he says, that's when jane o'brien media started e-mailing his employers. >> i have additional as a past employer. you don't want this guy in your league. can you afford the distraction,

the press, with an outed gay guy having a male tickling fetish, in which he likes to tickle and be tickled by other gay athletes and bodybuilders. >> false accusations saying i'm a drug addict, and child molester and gay, and this and that. >> e-mails to a school, where he was coaching kids. and suggesting that he was an out, gay, tickling fetish. and it was not true. >> reporter: did you take the videos of t.j. that ended up getting posted? >> i shot t.j. i don't trust what he says. >> reporter: producer, kevin clark, of jane o'brien media, says he doesn't condone what happened to t.j. but insists he personally had nothing to do with it. >> it is wrong. it's not black and white this reality you're discussing. >> reporter: how is it not black and white? >> there are good things and bad things. >> reporter: you say the good

thing is people got money? >> 99% of the people having a good experience. and 1% or less, not. >> reporter: for the 1%, for whom it went wrong, if that's a fair number, i'll take your word, it went very wrong. yes. i would assume there's recourse so that. >> reporter: clark has a website taking apart the documentary point-by-point. >> he coached me through the whole thing, saying it would be better for publicity. >> reporter: clark put "nightline" in touch with several other tickling models who told us they had a good experience with jane o'brien media. is jane o'brien media a legit company? >> jane o'brien media is a legit company. >> reporter: do you try to blackmail people? >> never. >> reporter: accusing the filmmakers of defamation and invasion of privacy. >> i was at a film festival in missouri. and a woman tapped me on the

shoulder and said, are you david farrier? i said, yes. and she said, you're served and handed me two lawsuits. >> reporter: one of the questions at issue, who owns jane o'brien media? the filmmakers allege it's this guy, who served time for computer fraud in connection with tickling videos. the filmmakers confront him on a treat in long island. what did you observe on your conversation with him? >> the conversation was short and didn't contain any useful information. he basically threatened us with legal stuff. >> you know, the m.o. of this person is to intimidate. i'm restricted in what i can talk about with you. it limits what i can say. >> reporter: d'amato is the one suing. >> am i that interesting? >> in this circumstance, you are. >> reporter: he has been spotted at the l.a. premiere of "tickled." >> as we say in new york, los angeles tv, you need to lawyer

up. >> reporter: "nightline" reached out, but through his attorney, he declined our request for an interview. is he connected to your company, jane o'brien media, in any way? >> no. not to my knowledge. that doesn't mean he isn't. but not to my knowledge. >> reporter: what do you mean? >> i don't ask my boss who he is working for. and i do, like anyone in the world, have nondisclosures of what i can and can't talk about. but the answer is no. >> reporter: he put us in touch with his boss. a guy named lewis pe loupaluso, say stand by their guns. >> this is a company that hides behind walls of anonymity. tickling is a big power play. you have someone who is in control. the tickler. you have the person being tickled, the ticklee, who has no power. and it's almost a metaphor for

the whole film. >> reporter: are you the ticklers? >> i think we're both. >> reporter: their cameras, exposing a tender underbelly to the internet. what it all means. and what harm it might potentially pose, that's for someone else to decide. i'm david wright for "nightline," in new york. next here, pop nostalgia with a twist. what is pit bull doing with reo speedwagon? ♪ i've been messing around ♪ i'm free to do what i want and have a good time.♪ the ford freedom sales event is on! and zero for 72 is back! on 2016 ford focus, fusion and escape. plus specially tagged vehicles get an extra $1000 smart bonus. that means freedom from interest... and freedom to choose... with ford, america's best selling brand. ♪ i'm free, baby! now get 0% financing for 72 months. plus, specially tagged vehicles get a $1000 smart bonus.

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and finally here tonight, main lining music nostalgia in unusual fashion. ♪ i wish i had jesse's girl >> reporter: they're the chart-topping hits that helped define their decade. "jesse's girl." "ghostbusters." revisited on "greatest hits." performed by the original artists, with help from today's hitmakers. hosted by arsenio hall and kelsey balarini, it's engineered

to drum up nostalgia. tonight's pop star pairing, reo speedwagon and pit bull, doing "messen around." inspired by "take it on the run." and soon, the backstreet boys are back with meghan trainor. ♪ back street back all right >> two great tastes that will taste great together. you can catch more on "greatest hits" on abc.

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