Petition to keep celebrity chef and conspiracy theorist Pete Evans out of Newcastle

A petition has been launched to stop celebrity chef and conspiracy theorist Pete Evans appearing at an event in Newcastle. Local business Life Rebel Chiropractic recently announced Evans as a guest speaker at an event to be held in the city in November. The announcement sparked a backlash online and prompted Hunter man Josh Hewitt to launch a petition. “Within 10 minutes of finding out about the event I made the petition,” he said. “He promoted anti-vaxxer theories, denies science, his views have proven to be dangerous. “He has been de-platformed on social media, de-platforming works for these people. We should not give him a physical platform in Newcastle.” In December Evans was removed from Facebook for repeatedly breaching its misinformation policies with his posts about the coronavirus. This was followed by his Instagram account also getting shut down in February for the promotion of similar material. IN THE NEWS: “We removed Pete Evans’ account for repeatedly sharing debunked claims about the coronavirus or vaccines,” the company said in a statement at the time. “We don’t allow anyone to share misinformation about COVID-19 that could lead to imminent physical harm or about COVID-19 vaccines that have been debunked by public health experts.” Evans was also fined by the Therapeutic Goods Administration for claiming a lamp could cure coronavirus and in a separate incident he was dumped by a string of sponsors and from a reality television show after sharing a neo-Nazi image. Mr Hewitt plans to take the petition to City of Newcastle, local politicians and the venue that is announced as the host of the event. “He is a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” he said of Evans. “People are drawn in by the wellness aspects, the cooking, reality TV and then the message morphs into something more dangerous.” Tim Shakespeare, operator of Life Rebel Chiropractic, said while the business was promoting the event he clarified it was himself and his wife who were the organisers of the “seminar aimed at discussing natural health care options”. He defended the decision to host the controversial figure as a guest speaker and called for people to make up their own minds about whether to attend, rather than cancelling Evans. “The cancel culture, where by context is removed, and people are labelled against their actual beliefs, must stop,” he said. “Pete Evans is a man with a very successful podcast and natural health business. People would like to hear what he has to say. “Choice is paramount in a free society. If we lose our choice, we lose our freedom. Therefore, we can’t remove Pete.”