LONDON (AP) — A children's book written by British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has been withdrawn from sale after it was criticized for causing offense to Indigenous Australians.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.
Oliver released his first children’s book, “Billy And The Giant Adventure,” last year and said in a social media post that he had “carefully chosen the font to make sure the text is as clear as possible” as dyslexic people like himself can find it hard to read.
Oliver, who rose to fame in 1999 with his book and television show “The Naked Chef,” has long campaigned on children’s food and nutrition and caused a furor in 2005 when he hit out at the nutritional content of some school dinners in the U.K.
FILE - British chef Jamie Oliver attends a panel session during the 47th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, WEF, in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 18, 2017. (Laurent Gillieron/Keystone via AP, file)
ATLANTA (AP) — Bill Self brushed off becoming the winningest coach in Kansas basketball history, even as he surpassed the guy whose name is on the arena.
“It means I'm old,” the 61-year-old Self said with a slight grin. “And it means I've had a lot of really good players.”
Self claimed the top spot at one of college basketball's most storied programs Tuesday night when No. 1 Kansas held off Michigan State 77-69 at the Champions Classic in Atlanta.
Self improved to 591-143 in his 22nd season coaching the Jayhawks, pushing him past Phog Allen’s mark of 590-219 in 39 seasons on the Kansas sideline. Including stints at Oral Roberts, Tulsa and Illinois, Self is two wins away from 800 in his career.
The Jayhawks, of course, play at Allen Fieldhouse — named in honor of the Hall of Fame coach whose brilliant career spanned most of first half of the 20th century.
They may have to put Self's name on the building, too.
“I hadn't thought about that at all,” he said of passing Allen's mark. “I'm certainly proud about it, but Phog Allen is still gonna be the all-time best coach at Kansas.”
That's not the way Self's players see it.
“It’s really special,” said 7-foot-2 center Hunter Dickinson, who led the Jayhawks with 28 points and 12 rebounds. “He’s never going to admit it. He’s always going to try to downplay it and give off the credit, but he’s the best coach in Kansas basketball history. We’re super special and fortunate to be playing for him.”
Fifth-year guard Dajuan Harris Jr. was proud to be part of his coach's record-setting night.
“Coach Self changed my life. All the credit goes to him,” Harris said. “I just want to be there for him because he’s been there for me."
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, the winningest coach in his school's history with 709, credited Self for getting the most out of players such as Zeke Mayo.
The Jayhawks guard was held to six points on 2-of-8 shooting, but he still managed to impact the game with 10 rebounds and seven assists.
“That’s a credit to Bill and his staff, how they get a kid who’s not playing well to do other things to help his team win,” Izzo said. “I give Bill a lot of credit for that. I did not get that out of a couple of my guys. They didn’t shoot it well, they didn’t rebound it well, and they didn’t guard it well.”
The Jayhawks are coming off a subpar season by their high standards.
A year ago, they opened at No. 1 and won 13 of their first 14 games, only to go 10-10 the rest of the way — including a 5-7 mark in their final dozen contests. The campaign ended with an ugly 89-68 blowout to Gonzaga in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Self and his players are intent on putting that disappointment firmly in the rearview mirror.
“I just want to win basketball games,” Harris said. "All he cares about is winning, and I care about winning. So I just want to keep winning games. It’s my last year with him, too, so I want to win every game with him.”
No matter what happens the rest of his career, Self's legacy at The Program That Phog Built is secure.
“I know the fans realize that he’s the best coach to come through here,” Dickinson said. “We're just trying to win more basketball games for him, trying to make him even better than he is.”
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll
Kansas head coach Bill Self reacts on the sidieline during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Michigan State, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore )
