After intense backlash for stereotypical descriptions of Indigenous Australians in his recent children’s book, the famous British chef Jamie Oliver (Jamie Oliver) proceeded to withdraw it from the shelves according to the Guardian.

In the 400 pages of “Billy and the Epic Escape”, the story of an Aboriginal girl with mystical powers, who lives in a foster family and is kidnapped from her home in central Australia, unfolds.

The book was released on May 21 by Penguin Random House UK.

According to the BBC, some Aboriginal leaders called the book “offensive”, pointing out that it contains linguistic errors and contributes to the “erasure, trivialization and stereotyping of First Nations people and experiences”.

In a statement, the chef – who is currently in Australia to promote his latest cookbook ‘Simply Jamie’ – apologized and said he was “devastated” to have caused pain.

“It was never my intention to misrepresent this deeply painful issue. Together with my publishers we have decided to withdraw the book from sale”, he added.

Among the objections is that the heroine’s character has the ability to read people’s minds and communicate with animals and plants because “that’s the way of the natives,” which Sharon Davis of the national education body pointed out. of First Nations reduces their “complex and diverse belief systems” to “magic.”

Furthermore, the language used is from the dialect of the Gamilaraay, the people of New South Wales and Queensland, where according to Ms Davies it shows “complete ignorance of the vast differences between First Nations languages, cultures and practices”.

The publishing company said the chef had consulted Indigenous Australians about the book, but “an editorial failure” prevented it from happening.