Pete Evans: out of the (Fb) frying pan and into the (dumpster) fire
Pete Evans: Activated Almonds to Alternative Health
The first time I ever paid any attention to Pete Evans, it was when he’d done a “day in a plate” type interview and he spoke about “activated almonds”. I learned that these were almonds that were soaked and then dried. Wet nuts that became dry nuts. I found this hilarious, but over the intervening years he has gone from a bit of a joke to downright alarming. I got blocked from his Facebook page when I questioned why he was anti fluoride and frankly, he’s gotten even weirder since.
Weirder than wet nuts getting dried?
Yes. In no particular order, since then:
- Anti sunscreen
- Pro David Avocado Wolfe
- That baby formula recipe made of liver and broth
- Sun gazing
- Pro David Icke (Holocaust denier and believer in reptilian overlords)
- Anti vaccine
- Pro Trump
- Anti 5g
- Covid conspiracist
- Trying to flog a $15k “energy blender”
- QAnon conspiracy enthusiast, and probably loads more.
As a tiny nod to that fateful day on a plate that gave so many of us a chuckle, here’s a rundown of his last several on facebook:
Is Pete Evans coming out as a nazi?
*Pete Evans posts nazi symbol*
⁃ Pete Evans says he was waiting for someone to notice the nazi symbol
⁃ Tells someone in the comments to look into “the true history of Germany”
Turns out, people aren’t okay with nazi memes from Paleo Pete!
⁃ Pete Evans starts to receive backlash for the nazi symbol from commenters on facebook. No great surprise. ⁃ He edits the caption to claim there are many ways to interpret the post with the nazi symbol (recap: a caterpillar in a MAGA hat sits opposite a butterfly with a nazi black sun wing, saying “you’ve changed” to which the butterfly responds, “we’re supposed to”) and eventually deletes the post altogether. However:
⁃ Pete then posts “sincere apologies” to anyone who “misinterpreted his post as promoting hatred”, followed by waffle about studying “all symbols that have ever existed” and a promise to research them all before posting, implying he didn’t realise or know before sharing and he didn’t seem sarcastic at all 🙄 (note again- when the black sun symbol was commented on- he said he “was waiting for someone to notice that” and he knows what MAGA hats are because he has shared videos of himself wearing one!)
Consequences
⁃ Pete Evans then gets dropped by publishers and other businesses associated with his brand. Hippy, alternative, all-natural living Pete who rails against the “mainstream” sure was making a bit of cash off said mainstream avenues! Supermarkets, pet food retailers, booksellers and more all distance themselves. He loses his next reality tv gig. Even his MLM affiliation with doTerra essential oils is canned. If an MLM dumps YOU, you have to know it’s bad, right?
⁃ Another post: Pete tries a different apology. Instead of an “I’m sorry you got offended”, he tries the Ignorance Defence, claiming he didn’t even know what a neo nazi was and had to google it. Pete “I was waiting for someone to notice that- Look up the true history of Germany- where’s my MAGA hat” Evans wants you to believe he didn’t know what neo nazis were. Let that sink in.
⁃ Soon after, Pete announces he is leaving Facebook.
⁃ After his “I’m leaving” post, he announces he has joined Parler. This platform is known as a haven for ultra conservatives/alt right extremists and, you guessed it, neo nazis. Did he stumble on the site while googling “what’s a neo nazi” perhaps??” Then, Pete shares a picture of his lunch, followed by a plug for his “evolve tv” website. You know, the usual things you post to your Facebook after you’ve allegedly left Facebook.
*note: while he was initially dropped by his MLM essential oil business– doTERRA have since back-pedalled, deciding it’s actually fine to remain associated with a person who wears a MAGA hat and appears to believe that the natural evolution from that is to become a nazi. Money talks, eh?
And yet…
He’s still got some super diehard fans out there. Those who are pro Trump and agree they should evolve into neo nazis are likely well beyond anything I could say to them.
The worry, to me, is the ones who see and choose to believe the fauxpologies, who ignore the MAGA hat and the questionable associations. The ones who don’t like politics or think he’s entitled to have his beliefs unchallenged- even nazi beliefs.
Maya Angelou once said “When people show you who they are, believe them the first time.” He’s showing you. Believe him. Then ask yourself if this is a voice you want to amplify, by a single page follow or dollar spent. Are these views you’re comfortable endorsing? Don’t kid yourself into thinking you can seperate his politics and beliefs from his food. You can get healthy recipes from a million different websites run by people who don’t post nazi memes, who won’t try to sell you $15k energy blenders and who won’t suggest that staring into the sun is good for your health. There’s some food for thought.
