Jamie Oliver has halted sales of his new children’s book after it was criticized for being insensitive to Indigenous Australians, the Guardian reports.
The celebrity chef pulled Billy and the Epic Escape from shelves in countries including the U.K. and Australia after criticism from the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Commission (NATSIEC) in Australia.
Oliver’s book, illustrated by Mónica Armiño and published in May in the U.K. and Australia and in October in the U.S., is a sequel to his 2023 novel, Billy and the Giant Adventure. The new book followed the young titular character and his best friends as they explore a magical forest that is threatened by a mysterious villain. In the book, the villain kidnaps an Indigenous Australian girl who is living in foster care.
Sharon Davis, the CEO of NATSIEC, said the book was insensitive to Indigenous Australians, who have been forced to reckon with the country’s child removal policies of the 20th century, in which Indigenous children were forcibly taken from their families.
“It perpetuates a racist stereotype that has been used to justify child removals for over a century,” Davis told the Guardian. “This portrayal is not only offensive but also reinforces damaging biases.”
Oliver apologized for the book, saying, “I am devastated to have caused offence and apologise wholeheartedly. It was never my intention to misinterpret this deeply painful issue. Together with my publishers we have decided to withdraw the book from sale.”
Tundra Books, the Penguin Random House imprint that published the book in Canada and the U.S., posted on Instagram, “We join our colleagues at Penguin Random House UK in taking full responsibility for this editorial failing, and in withdrawing the book from publication immediately. ”
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
