Stetson Takes Its Hats Off Antivax Store’s Shelves

There’s always someone who’s surprised that taking style tips from Nazi Germany is a bad look. A store in Nashville posted to Instagram a now-deleted photo of a smiling woman wearing a yellow Star of David patch inscribed “not vaccinated.” The photo, posted by hatWRKS, was captioned “patches are here” and promised trucker caps with a similar design were next. Hatmaker Stetson was not thrilled with having its products on the shelf of a store where a COVID vaccination is compared to the Holocaust and issued a statement saying it will stop selling its products at the store. Goorin Bros, another popular hatmaker, also released a statement from its owner and president that said “to make a mockery of the Holocaust in any form is unacceptable,” the Guardian reports.

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HatWRKS initially pushed back, arguing on Instagram “that all unvaccinated people will be segregated from society, marked & must wear a mask. what comes next?” But it posted an apology “for any insensitivity” early Sunday. Protesters showed up at the store on Saturday, some holding a banner that read “No Nazis in Nashville,” NBC News reports. And a local rabbi, Laurie Rice, offered to have a conversation with the store’s owner about history and the significance of the yellow star. The owner of hatWRKS isn’t the first to come under fire for comparing vaccination status to a Nazi symbol. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was admonished by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy for drawing the same parallel last week.