A children’s book written by British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has been withdrawn from sale after it was criticized for causing offense to Indigenous Australians.
The Guardian newspaper reported Saturday that the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Corporation blasted “Billy And The Epic Escape,” which was published earlier this year, for employing a series of tropes and stereotypes about Indigenous Australians, including their relationships with the natural and spiritual worlds.
The group criticized one of the fantasy novel’s subplots, which tells the story of an Indigenous girl living in foster care, for contributing to the “erasure, trivialisation, and stereotyping of First Nations peoples and experiences.”
In a statement, Oliver, 49, said he was “devastated” to have caused offense and apologized “wholeheartedly.”
“It was never my intention to misinterpret this deeply painful issue,” he said. “Together with my publishers we have decided to withdraw the book from sale.”
Indigenous campaigners were particularly aghast that neither Oliver nor his publishers, Penguin Random House, had consulted with them before the novel was published.
“It is clear that our publishing standards fell short on this occasion, and we must learn from that and take decisive action,” the publisher said. “With that in mind, we have agreed with our author, Jamie Oliver, that we will be withdrawing the book from sale.”
Oliver, who is in Australia promoting his latest recipe book, is among a long list of celebrities to have put their names to children’s books, a trend that has been criticized by many children’s authors, who say they are being crowded out of their market.