Book publisher Pan Macmillan told The Feed it’s finalising its contractual relationship with celebrity chef Pete Evans after he posted a cartoon that appeared to incorporate a symbol associated with neo-Nazis.
The now-deleted post showed a cartoon of a butterfly with the symbol embedded inside its wings. Gizmodo claimed showed the cartoon was recently shared on a Nordish neo-Nazi website.
In the cartoon, a caterpillar wearing a MAGA hat tells a butterfly, “you’ve changed”. The butterfly - which appears to be adorned with a neo-Nazi ‘Black Sun’ symbol - replies: “you’re supposed to”.
“An oldie but a Goldie,” Evans captioned the cartoon.
One user in the comments claimed the butterfly is wearing the ‘Black Sun’ symbol, which was recently used in the manifesto of the Christchurch shooter.
“I was waiting for someone to see that,” Evans replied to the Black Sun comment.
The Black Sun symbol has been associated with the occult and paganism but has also become a symbol used by far-right and neo-Nazi groups.
After a storm of controversy online, Evans apologised on Facebook on Monday afternoon to those who “misinterpreted” the cartoon.
“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,” Evans wrote.
“I look forward to studying every symbol that have ever existed and research them thoroughly before posting. Hopefully this symbol ❤️resonates deeply into the hearts of ALL!”
Pan Macmillan told The Feed it “does not support the recent posts made by Pete Evans.”
“Those views are not our views as a company or the views of our staff. Pan Macmillan is currently finalising its contractual relationship with Pete Evans and as such will not be entering any further publishing agreements moving forward,” the spokesperson added.
“If any retailer wishes to return Pete Evans' books, please contact Pan Macmillan.”
The company did not answer The Feed’s questions by deadline as to whether it is ending Evans’ contract due to him sharing the neo-Nazi cartoon.
In September, its decision to publish his latest cookbook “The Complete Keto Cookbook and Lifestyle Guide”, despite the chef promoting anti-vaccine and anti-fluoride views.
But in 2015, the company put aside plans to publish Evans’ paleo diet book for babies following backlash from health professionals.
Activist group Sleeping Giants Oz is campaigning for retailers to boycott Evans’ products which are currently stocked by Coles and Woolworths.
Woolworths, which stocks Raw C coconut water ‘by Pete Evans’, told The Feed it appreciates “the community concern over these comments and will be conveying our own to the supplier.”
Owner of Raw C, Scott Mendelsohn, says he “absolutely” condemns the cartoon that was shared by Evans.
Woolworths stocks Raw C coconut water who was previously affiliated with the chef. Source: Woolworths
Mendelsohn told The Feed he’s “horrified” by the cartoon and confirmed the company ended its relationship with Evans many months ago after Evans' posts about COVID-19.
He added that “it takes two to three months to change the packaging.”
“Pete was associated with the business and we took steps 24 months ago to take him off our packaging. The new packaging doesn’t have his name on it. He hasn’t done any marketing with us since April,” Mendelsohn said.
“To be honest I hadn’t seen the post since I saw your email and I’m mortified.”
However, Coles, which stocks products from Pete Evans’ Wholefoods Range, did not reply to The Feed’s request for comment.
A petition on calling on Big W, David Jones and Dymocks to remove Evans’ cookbooks from shelves before Christmas had 2,696 signatures by Monday afternoon.
Shortly after the petition was shared by Sleeping Giants Oz, Dymocks replied on Twitter: “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."
Screenshot of Coles selling a Pete Evans product on its website. Source: Coles
It comes after Pete Evans from ‘My Kitchen Rules’ in May. The show had suffered a decline in ratings, and a month earlier, he was slapped with $25,000 in fines by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.
TGA fined Evans over his claims on a that a “BioCharger” device had magical coronavirus eradication properties.
The Feed has contacted Pete Evans and Coles for comment.
