Pete Evans on Sunday Night discussing the Medical cannabis. Photo / Supplied
Pete Evans on Sunday Night discussing the Medical cannabis. Photo / Supplied
You might know him for his healthy recipes but Pete Evans reportedly plans to take his love for medicinal cannabis further with his next cookbook - if anyone plans to stock it.
The celebrity chef hit out at his publisher Pan Macmillan for dropping him earlier this month, announcing it was "finalising" its relationship with Evans because it "does not support the recent posts made".
If you haven't been following, the former My Kitchen Rules judge landed himself in hot water after posting a neo-Nazi cartoon.
"Those views are not our views as a company or the views of our staff. Pan Macmillan is currently finalising its contractual relationship with Pete Evans and as such will not be entering any further publishing agreements moving forward," the company said in a statement.
"If any retailer wishes to return Pete Evans' books please contact Pan Macmillan."
Now Evans has lashed out at Pan Macmillan - after earlier in the week responding to the "companies that publicly dumped me without picking up the phone and calling me to have an adult conversation".
Evans said his latest book "to support our highly intelligent 'immune system'" launched yesterday.
"I have no idea if any retailer is stocking them (as I still haven't heard a word from my publisher in over a week) but perhaps they are available online and in wonderful health food stores and independent bookstores," he wrote on his Facebook page, which is still yet to be closed.
"And if not, then they may be burnt already or whatever they do with book burning in 2020. "The good news is, I will be releasing an in-depth cannabis cookbook next year with an amazing cannabis doctor, so if they burn that ... we can have a communal party."
It's not clear whether Evans is serious, but he has a long history of advocating for cannabis.
Pete Evans discussed the medical cannabis debate on the Sunday Night programme. Photo / Supplied
Last year Evans joined Sunday Night as a guest reporter to weigh up the pros and cons of the drug amid his campaigning for its legalisation.
"At the moment, companies are making a 500-1000 per cent profit of medicinal cannabis and other cannabis industries are marking up this plant to be unaffordable for most," he wrote on Instagram at the time.
"Often it may not be the best quality product that is available, and children and adults are dying because they cannot access or afford this plant due to the red tape and fear this country currently has.
"Some believe we should have it only medicinally, whereas others want it recreationally. This is a basic human rights issue and one that we will keep openly discussing until law reform happens in this country and until the costs come down for the people that need it most."
Last year he also travelled to the US and Canada earlier to film The Magic Plant, the follow-up to his Netflix documentary The Magic Pill.
"I'm a strong believer every single adult, should they chose, should legally be allowed to grow a few plants to be used as food or medicine," he told the Gold Coast Bulletin.
"As mature and informed adults, and through correct education, there's no reason why we shouldn't be able to grow this wondrous plant alongside our other herbs and plants."
The ACT became the first Australian jurisdiction to legalise the possession, use and cultivation of small amounts of cannabis.
Breast cancer sufferer Olivia Newton-John is another high-profile advocate for the use of medical marijuana.
Earlier this month Evans' controversial views led to people boycotting brands he was associated with, and Channel 10 axing him from a potential appearance on I'm a Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here!
Aside from the cartoon he shared, he also claimed people were not spreaders of the deadly coronavirus, sparking an outpouring of criticism.
Dymocks Australia followed Pan Macmillan, with the book retailer tweeting that they "are in the process of removing his books from our website and have advised our stores to return their stock as offered by the publisher".
BIG W has also abandoned Evans in a decision to remove his book titles from the range.
