Host of Iron Chef America apologises for “flippant” comment about Auschwitz uniforms
Alton Brown, the host of the Food Network’s “Iron Chef America” and creator of “Good Eats”, issued an apology last week following a “flippant” remark he posted on Twitter about the uniforms worn by prisoners at the Auschwitz extermination camp during the Holocaust.
The post, originally shared on 10th November, read: “Do you think the camp uniforms will be striped, like the ones at Auschwitz or will plaid be in vogue?” Mr Brown claimed that the remark was a comment on the current political climate. In response to an individual comment, he also tweeted, “I have no gold fillings”, a reference to the fillings often stolen by the Nazis from the bodies of murdered Jews.
A few minutes after the post was tweeted from his account, another user of the networking site responded with criticism and Mr Brown replied: “F*** you”.
With 4.5million Twitter followers, numerous followers expressed shock at the television host’s gross insensitivity, describing his remarks as “hurtful” and “disgusting”. Several Jewish organisations called for the removal of the celebrity chef from the Food Network too demonstrate zero tolerance for antisemitic language.
In a public statement, Mr Brown maintained that the allusion to the victims of the Holocaust was not for a “humorous effect” and it was a “very poor use of judgement and in poor taste”. The tweet has subsequently been removed from the platform.
The Food Network, and the culinary entertainment industry more broadly, has not yet taken any further action or spoken out.
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