British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has apologized and pulled his children’s book following a row over a subplot that was criticized for insensitivity towards Indigenous Australians. In Billy and the Epic Escape, Oliver writes of an Indigenous girl living in foster care who is kidnapped by a fiend who claims “First Nations children seem to be more connected with nature.” The character is portrayed as being from Mparntwe in Australia’s Northern Territory, but then uses language and terms from the Gamilaraay people, who are from New South Wales and Queensland. The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Corporation said the book amounted to “erasure, trivialization, and stereotyping of First Nations peoples and experiences.” Oliver said the book will no longer be for available for purchase: “It was never my intention to misinterpret this deeply painful issue. Together with my publishers, we have decided to withdraw the book from sale.”
