A Bolton-based meal-planning expert has been dropped by his publishing company after "unacceptable" claims of misogyny and insults on a live video on social media.
Two live videos appeared on John Clark's Instagram account on Monday evening, August 15, which appeared to show the Sunday Times bestselling author insulting some of the viewers before going on a bizarre rant about women. The 42-year-old former lorry driver was pictured with a graze below his eye, and a swollen nose which he claimed in the videos was a result of being "whacked".
The two videos were both broadcast on Monday evening, with one showing the author sitting outside sipping from a drinks bottle, whilst the second appeared to have been taken inside a home. Clips from the videos, seen by the Manchester Evening News, showed Mr Clark calling one of his viewers "fat" and a "waste of space" before saying they "haven't got a clue".
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A clip from his second video showed Mr Clark using a slur used to demean people with learning difficulties, telling one of his viewers to "shut the f*** up" before describing them as a "thick r***** female, pathetic." A clip showing his problematic behaviour was shared on Twitter by one of the 1,000 people watching the live video, featuring a two-minute expletive-filled rant about women.
When asked by one of the commenters to "have some respect for females" he replied: "Nope, you're all f***ing scruffy c***s. I do like kinda p***ing women off. 'I'm a woman, I'm a female, and I have rights' shut the f*** up you f***ing scruffy c***." before making a spitting motion directed out of shot.
He continued in the video: "I'm not against women I just don't agree with the women who think there's some sort of hierarchy, it's weird. I'm not really this bad in general but I am opinionated on certain things but you must admit if you're a woman it's like, 'oh basically what it is, what I want to do, I wanna self-sabotage men', f*** off. I tell you what, it keeps the following and people love it."
Self-sabotage is a term used to describe people's actions that get in the way of their own goals, happiness, or success, typically used when someone loses a positive thing in their lives due to their own behaviour. It is not used to refer to destroying someone else's goals.
During the video, Mr Clark, who has sold over 125,000 copies of his books, described himself as "skint, like everybody else in the world", before saying he didn't care if anyone bought his latest book. Several shocked viewers have tagged Penguin Michael Joseph, the publishers who have carried both of Mr Clark's books, and Eatlean, a company partnered with Mr Clark, as the author was wearing one of their branded t-shirts in his video.
Both firms have publicly distanced themselves from Mr Clark today, after the videos were brought to their attention. A spokesperson for the publisher said: "Penguin Michael Joseph is appalled by John Clark’s unacceptable behaviour. We do not have any more books under contract with John and will not be working with him in future."
Eatlean posted a statement on their social media accounts, stating they had unfollowed and disassociated themselves with the man. Their comment read: "We'd like to make it known to our Eatlean community that we are aware of the offensive actions that have taken place on an unrelated Instagram account today. It's important that we strongly express our zero tolerance stance on offensive messaging of any kind. We are no longer involved or affiliated with the individual. We as a brand will continue to stand firm on this. Thank you to our community for uniting once again to help stamp out any offensive and abusive behaviour. We unite with you on this."
Mr Clark was contacted for comment by the Manchester Evening News but did not respond to any requests before publication.
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