British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has pulled his latest children’s book from sale after complaints that it contributed to the stereotyping of Indigenous Australians.
Oliver, who is in Australia promoting his latest recipe book, said he was “devastated” that his fantasy novel Billy And The Epic Escape had caused offence and he apologised “wholeheartedly”.
“It was never my intention to misinterpret this deeply painful issue,” Oliver, 49, said in a statement.
“Together with my publishers we have decided to withdraw the book from sale.”
Publisher Penguin Random House said that its publishing standards “fell short on this occasion” and “we must learn from that and take decisive action”.
Set in England, Billy and the Epic Escape includes a subplot featuring an Indigenous girl who is abducted while living in foster care in Alice Springs in central Australia.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Corporation, Australia’s peak body for Indigenous education, led calls for the book’s withdrawal, telling The Guardian news outlet the book was “disrespectful” and contributed to the “erasure, trivialisation, and stereotyping of First Nations peoples and experiences”.
Indigenous figures also criticised the book for mixing together different Indigenous languages and discussing child abduction, given the history of the “Stolen Generations,” referring to the thousands of Indigenous children forcibly taken from their families and placed in foster care under policies that continued until the 1970s.
“While Oliver has apologised, the impact of such misrepresentation on First Nations children and communities cannot be understated,” Sue-Anne Hunter, an Indigenous woman and adjunct professor at Federation University in Victoria, said in a post on Instagram.
“It perpetuates harmful stereotypes and risks reinforcing colonial narratives at a time when we should be amplifying authentic Indigenous voices and stories.”
Oliver, who launched his first children’s book Billy And The Giant Adventure last year, is best known for his cookbooks and food-related television shows, including The Naked Chef, which ran for three seasons on the BBC from 1999 to 2001.
