Following last week’s absolute fiasco in which he very publicly torpedoed himself over an overtly Nazi meme, Pete Evans has this afternoon taken to Instagram to give a very public shoutout to the bare handful of companies brave enough, or otherwise, to remain by his side during these deeply stupid times.
If happened to have licked a bung mushroom and subsequently spent the majority of last week off floating about in a contrabulous fabtraption somewhere t’wards the moon, here’s the quick-and-dirty timeline of what in the blazing fuck happened.
- November 15: Pete Evans posts a meme on his Facebook page featuring a caterpillar in a MAGA hat talking to a butterfly with the extremely Nazi sonnenrad/black sun symbol in its wings. Evans captions it “an oldie but a goodie,” makes allusions to the “true history of Germany” in the comments, and acknowledges the Black Sun’s presence when someone points it out. Outrage ensues.
- November 16: Pete Evans doubles back on said meme, asserting that the image “can represent so many things to so many.” Although in this specific case the meaning behind the sonnenrad isn’t exactly up for debate.
- November 16: Later that same day, the fallout begins. Evans’ cookbook publisher Pan Macmillan states that they are “finalising their contractual relationship” with him and will “not be entering any further publishing agreements moving forward.”
- November 17: Channel Ten quietly yeets Evans out from the upcoming series of I’m A Celebrity, which had reportedly progressed as far as putting Evans in pre-production lockdown.
- November 17: A slew of major brands who either financially backed or carried Evans’ signature range of products follow suit. House, Woolworths, Baccarat, David Jones, Dymocks, Natural Raw C, and a slew of others all publicly distance themselves from him, vowing to drop his products from shelves immediately.
- November 17: After returning to Byron Bay from I’m A Celebrity lockdown – and reportedly in a “furious” mood – Evans, and a horse, posts through the shitstorm. In an Instagram video, Evans claims he had to Google what “neo-Nazi” meant, and holds that up as evidence that he is wholly innocent.
- November 20: Pete Evans declares intention to shut down his Facebook page, directing people instead to his “official” page on the right-wing Parler platform.
Today, Evans has resurfaced on Instagram to spit barbs at the companies and brands that deserted him throughout last week, while publicly acknowledging three companies that (for whatever reason) stuck by him.
In a post made just a couple of hours ago, Evans asserted “Freedom from fear is also medicine,” before stating “A HUGE THANK YOU to @gelproaustralia @waterscofilters and @hilbilbyculturefood for standing by alongside me over the last week and not reacting out of fear, or to allow bullying or intimidation to take you out of your heart space.”
Evans then went on to state, in a rather thinly-veiled manner, “To the [other companies] that publicly dumped me, without picking up the phone and calling me to have an adult conversation… I send you LOVE and hope you HEAL in the most beautiful ways on your own personal and business journeys.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CH6evGTBKv5/
Those three companies mentioned, for the record, are GelPro Australia, a “gelatin and collagen protein supplements” company, Waters Co, a home water filter producer, and Hilbilby, who produce products labelled “Fire Tonic,” “Master Tonic,” and “Sparkling Switchel,” to name but a few.
It’s incredibly important to note that Pete Evans’ great Facebook vamoosing lasted all of about two or three hours. Despite declaring on November 20th, and again on the 21st, that he had shut down his Facebook page, Evans has been regularly making new posts spruiking his subscription-based services, sharing recipe photos, and even his usual meme rotation. The latter of which was last active this morning, with this barnburner.
The lesson here? Just keep posting, through everything. A poster’s grift simply never ends.
