Major brands are cutting ties with Pete Evans after yesterday’s ordeal because, as it turns out, posting neo-Nazi memes on your Facebook page is bad. Who knew, right?
For those of you who somehow missed it, Evans made headlines yesterday after posting a meme on Facebook that quite literally displayed the Black Sun, which is a well-known Nazi symbol. Obviously, he got called the fuck out for it, and it prompted a lot of people to call for brands to end its partnerships with the controversial chef.
So, let’s take a gander at who has ended their partnerships with him so far.
For starters, Pan Macmillan – who has been publishing his books for years – took to Twitter to announce that it was ending its contractual obligations with him as soon as possible.
— Pan Macmillan Aus (@MacmillanAus) November 16, 2020
Channel 10 then announced that he will not be appearing in I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here, but are yet to confirm if he will be paid for the appearance and still never confirmed was happening in the first place
Pete Evans now dropped from I’m A Celebrity on day filming begins. Channel 10 should also clarify if he will still be getting paid by them.
— Peter Ford (@mrpford) November 16, 2020
HOUSE, who previously stocked Pete Evans’ line of cookware have also terminated its partnership with him following the saga.
https://twitter.com/bellabeachbabe/status/1328478177363017728
Perhaps most notably, Woolworths and Big W have removed his books from its stores, urging customers to follow the advice of legit medical professionals and not men who butt-guzzle the sun.
We appreciate the recent community concern over comments made by Pete Evans. BIG W has taken the decision to remove his books from sale. As always, we encourage our customers to follow the expert medical advice from health authorities. More here: https://t.co/zQHW2Luk8T
— Woolworths (@woolworths) November 17, 2020
His books have also been pulled from Dymocks’ website, with the retailer “in the process” of pulling it from shelves.
We are in the process of removing his books from our website and have advised our stores to return their stock as offered by the publisher. Thank you
— @dymocksbooks (@Dymocksbooks) November 16, 2020
Book seller Booktopia have also publicly distanced itself from Evans, asserting that it had already made a move not to “actively promote” Evans, according to Business Insider.
“Booktopia made a decision several months ago to no longer actively promote or partner with Pete Evans, and to ensure his books were not prominently merchandised on our website. Today, we have made the further decision to take Pan MacMillan up on their offer and are beginning the process of removing his titles from our warehouse. While Pan MacMillan continues to have his titles available, they will be available in our product feeds,” a company spokesperson told Business Insider.
Natural Raw C, most known for its coconut water, followed suit.
“We are both horrified and saddened by the religious and anti-Semitic undertones by this tweet,” the company wrote in a statement. “These views are not supported by our company or staff.
“There has been a pattern of behaviour by Mr Evans over the last year that has led to Natural Raw C taking steps to disassociate with him both personally and as a brand.”
Baccarat Kitchen added its name to the list as well, confirming it had terminated its license agreement for the manufacture and retail of its range of Evans’ branded kitchenware products.
“In our view, the images and views expressed by Mr Evans are abhorrent, unacceptable and deeply offensive,” it said in a statement.
Baccarat retail partners will also immediately remove the product range online and will nix all stock in store.
Coles, meanwhile, has confirmed it’s currently in talks about stocking Evans’ simmer sauce range.
“We have no direct business relationship with Pete Evans, however, we currently stock a small number of products from suppliers who have licensing agreements with him,” the supermarket giant said in a statement to Yahoo.
Coles has spoken to the suppliers, and “are in discussions regarding the removal of these products from our range.”
David Jones has also said it will be removing Evans’ books from its stores.
“David Jones does not support or in any way endorse the comments made by Pete Evans and we will no longer be stocking Pete Evans titles effective today, November 17 2020,” a spokesperson told The Feed.
All stock will be returned to its publisher, Pan MacMillan.
It’s worth noting that ending partnerships is usually a pretty lengthy legal process, so just because a brand is yet to comment doesn’t necessarily mean that it endorses, or has intentions of continuing its professional relationship with Evans.
We’ll be sure to update this yarn as more information becomes available.
