Pete Evans Cancelled

In case you don’t know, Pete Evans is an Australian celebrity chef and judge. He also happens to be one of the latest to be cancelled because of a remark or tweet.

The Warehouse will stop selling the work of controversial Australian chef Pete Evans but his books and food products are still widely available in New Zealand.

Among the retailers still stocking Evans’ products is Mighty Ape, which just weeks ago dropped a book by American author Olivia Pearson [sic] after she made derisive comments about Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta’s moko.

At the same time they were also selling copies of Mein Kampf.

The Warehouse ceased sales of Evans’ books after the former My Kitchen Rules chef was dropped by his Australian book publisher on Tuesday because he shared a post containing a neo-Nazi symbol on his popular social media accounts.

Yep, one tweet.

[…]When asked if they would be doing the same, on Twitter, The Warehouse in New Zealand said: “We are currently in the process of withdrawing stock in our stores and online.”

[…]Evans has also been dropped by various brands in Australia, after the post over the weekend, including Big W, Dymocks, Woolworths, House, Coles. Cookware brand Baccarat panned Evans and coconut water brand Raw C – which was “both horrified and saddened by the religious and anti-Semitic undertones” of the post – have said they will no longer be associated with Evans.

Evans removed the post after it sparked outrage online. He later posted an apology on Instagram.

“Sincere apologies to anyone who misinterpreted a previous post of a caterpillar and a butterfly having a chat over a drink and perceived that I was promoting hatred.

“I look forward to studying all of the symbols that have ever existed and research them thoroughly before posting [sic],” Evans said.

Obviously good old Pete is taking the piss out of his critics. I don’t know if the tweet was deliberate and Pete does have Nazi sympathies and is a bit of a “white supremacist” (very unlikely). What is important is that, even if it was true, he has the right to say what he believes, just like others have a right to point it out. After all, pointing out bad speech is an essential part of freedom of speech. What others do not have the right to do is to cancel and de-platform someone, and destroy their careers and means to make a living, over something that person said.

That’s not freedom of speech. It is the exact opposite.