Hat brands continue to cut ties with shop over ‘NOT VACCINATED’ Star of David badges

Gino Spocchia

May 31, 2021 at 11:03 AM·3 min read

<p>Outside hatWRKS in Nashville, Tennessee </p> (Google/Google Street View) — Outside hatWRKS in Nashville, Tennessee
(Google/Google Street View)

Brands and manufacturers are continuing to cut ties with a hat shop in Nashville amid accusations of antisemitism for an anti-vaccination badge .

It follows the owner of hatWRKS, in Nashville, Tennessee, advertising a picture of a yellow patch resembling the Star of David along with the words “not vaccinated” on Friday.

It was deleted soon afterwards on Instagram, drawing criticism for referring to the badge forced on Jews under Nazi occupation.

Although the owner of hatWRKS, identified as Gigi Gaskins, issued an apology for “trivaliz[ing] the Star of David” and for “disrespect” on Saturday, a number of manufacturers continued to say they were cutting ties with hatWRKS.

Stetson, the well-known hat brand, called the anti-vaccination patch “offensive” and that it “condemns antisemitism and discrimination of any kind”.

“We are aware of the situation in Nashville,” Stetson tweeted on Saturday. “As a result of the offensive content and opinions shared by hatWRKS in Nashville, Stetson and our distribution partners will cease the sale of all Stetson products.”

It was followed by Goorin Bros, another hat manufacturer who announced on Sunday it was stopping distribution to hatWRKS.

“Due to the recent offensive content shared by hatWRKS in Nashville, Goorin Bros. has ended their distribution with this business effective immediately,” the firm tweeted.

As a result of the offensive content and opinions shared by HatWRKS in Nashville, Stetson and our distribution partners will cease the sale of all Stetson products. We thank you for your continued support and patience.
— John B. Stetson (@StetsonUSA) May 29, 2021

Another hat brand, Bailey Hats, wrote on Facebook that “use of the Star of David by our customer [hatWRKS] as a statement against vaccination was not just insensitive, but disrespectful and wrong”.

“We have given Gigi Gaskins at hatWRKS Nashville a chance to change,” it added, but that “additional posts on her feed, and the refusal to remove past offensive posts, make it clear to us that her apology is not sincere”.

Bailey Hats also confirmed it was “permanently terminating hatWRKS Nashville as a customer”, immediately.

Ms Gaskins wrote in an apology on Saturday that “In NO WAY did I intend to trivialise the Star of David or disrespect what happened to millions of people. That is not who I am & what I stand for.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by hatWRKS (@hatwrksnashville)

“My intent was not to exploit or make a profit. My hope was to share my genuine concern and fear, and to do all that I can to make sure that nothing like that ever happens again,” she added. “I sincerely apologise for any insensitivity.”

In a follow-up post, the hatWRKS owner wrote that she was the “target of the mob” and that she was fighting against “tyranny” and a “power grab”, and went on to complain about Black Lives Matter protests over the past year.

She also said that none of the patches advertised on Friday were sold.

Demonstrators assembled on Saturday in protest against Ms Gaskin, according to CNN, with signs including “No Nazis in Nashville”.

It comes almost a week after firebrand GOP congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene compared Covid vaccination stickers and face coverings to the Star of David and the Holocaust.

An estimated six million Jews were murdered during the mass extermination event.

Ms Greene afterwards apologised and defended her remarks, saying she was fighting against rules that were comparable to that of “the great tyrants of history”, in apparent reference to Hitler.

Mark Ruffalo apologises for posts ‘suggesting Israel is committing genocide’

LA mayor warns against antisemitism after video attack on Jewish diners spreads online

More than 300% increase in antisemitic incidents in recent days, minister tells MPs

Reuters
Eruption of Indonesia's Mt Ibu forces seven villages to evacuate
A volcano on the remote Indonesian island of Halmahera has spectacularly erupted, spewing a grey ash cloud into the sky, and people from seven nearby villages have been evacuated, authorities said on Sunday. Mt. Ibu erupted on Saturday evening, sending ash 4 km (2.5 miles) high, as streaks of purple lightning flashed around its crater, according to information and images shared by Indonesia's volcanology agency. Indonesia's volcanology agency raised the alert level of the volcano to the highest level on Thursday, after Ibu erupted multiple times earlier this month.
Associated Press
Elon Musk arrives in Indonesia's Bali to launch Starlink satellite internet service
Elon Musk arrived in Indonesia’s resort island of Bali on Sunday to launch Starlink satellite internet service in the world’s largest archipelago nation. Musk is slated to launch the service alongside Indonesian President Joko Widodo in a ceremony later Sunday at a public health clinic in Denpasar, the provincial capital of Bali.
AFP
Iraq father begins legal action against BP over son's cancer death
Hussein Julood is taking legal action against British energy giant BP after he lost his son to leukaemia, which he alleges was caused by gas flaring at Iraq's largest oil field. BP is one of the biggest foreign players in Iraq's oil sector, with a history of producing oil in the country dating back to the 1920s when it was still under British mandate.
NBC News
Trump accepts NRA endorsement, urges gun owners to turn out to vote
The National Rifle Association is supporting former President Donald Trump, an expected endorsement as the Republican nominee urged gun owners to vote in 2024.
TODAY
L.A. County investigating reported hepatitis A case at Beverly Hills Whole Foods
Los Angeles County public health officials are investigating a reported case of hepatitis A in an employee at a Whole Foods supermarket in Beverly Hills.
AFP
Dominican Republic's vote is dominated by Haiti crisis
Dominican President Luis Abinader is poised for comfortable reelection Sunday on the back of widespread support for his tough stance on migration from troubled neighbor Haiti.- United against migration - The capital, Santo Domingo, and smaller provincial towns are plastered with political posters, and Abinader and Fernandez have crisscrossed the country holding rallies with hundreds of supporters chanting slogans and dancing Dominican merengue.
AFP
Can we rid artificial intelligence of bias?
Artificial intelligence built on mountains of potentially biased information has created a real risk of automating discrimination, but is there any way to re-educate the machines?The huge models on which ChatGPT is built "can't reason about what is biased or what isn't so they can't do anything about it," cautioned Jayden Ziegler, head of product at Alembic Technologies.
AFP
Forgotten D-Day cameramen out of shadows, 80 years on
Seated side by side behind an antiquated viewer, the sisters run and rerun the 35 mm black-and-white film reel, whispering to each other about the images captured by their father, the only cameraman on Omaha Beach on D-Day.Lieb shot both black-and-white footage for American newsreels and personal images in color.
CNN
Georgian president vetoes ‘foreign agents’ bill after widespread opposition
Georgia’s President Salome Zourabichvili has vetoed a controversial “foreign agents” bill that sparked weeks of widespread protests across the country.
CNN
Houston surveys destruction from deadly storms and races to restore power as Southeast and Gulf Coast face flood threat
As officials assess the damage from destructive storms in the Houston area that killed at least seven people and knocked out power amid rising temperatures, residents in the Southeast and Gulf Coast face a severe weather threat through Saturday that could bring another round of excessive rainfall and severe thunderstorms.
CNN
Tsai Ing-wen: the leader who put Taiwan on the map and stood up to China
Tsai Ing-wen never set out to be a leader. Growing up shy, she aspired to become an archeologist, because “people that are dead already wouldn’t jump up and argue with you.”
AFP
'Unhinged,' 'crooked': Trump and Biden trade campaign trail barbs
Donald Trump used an expletive to attack Joe Biden during an address to an influential gun group Saturday, while the incumbent president warned in the crucial swing state of Georgia that his "unhinged" challenger is a threat to US democracy.Trump, who is fending off multiple criminal indictments for his unprecedented attempt to overthrow the results of the 2020 election and was twice impeached as president, told the crowd Biden is "crooked" and a "threat to democracy."
Associated Press
Taiwan's new president inherits a strong foreign policy position but political gridlock at home
In a campaign ad for Taiwan’s president-elect Lai Ching-te, incumbent President Tsai Ing-wen was shown driving with Lai in the passenger seat, exchanging reflections on their years governing together. Tsai later turned over the driving to Lai, who was joined by running mate Bi-khim Hsiao. The message was clear: Lai would steer the island in the direction set by Tsai, who after eight years in power was barred from running again.
Politico
Trump at NRA convention floats a three-term presidency
The former president has more recently shut down the proposition of seeking a third term, which is barred by the Constitution.
Politico
Alice Stewart, veteran GOP adviser and CNN commentator, dies at 58
Law enforcement told CNN a medical emergency likely occurred.
CNN
Trapped cargo ship Dali will refloat to Baltimore Monday at high tide
Almost two months after its devastating collision with a Baltimore bridge, the trapped cargo ship Dali will refloat and travel to the Baltimore marine terminal on Monday morning, officials said.
CNN
Trump addresses an embattled NRA as he campaigns against Biden’s gun policies
Donald Trump arrives at the NRA convention a reliable ally of gun rights activists. But it’s unclear how much the NRA can help with his latest White House bid.
CNN
Judge grants motion to reopen sentencing in case of Paul Pelosi attacker
A federal judge has granted a motion to reopen the sentencing in the case against David DePape, the man convicted of the 2022 attack on House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul, because he did not get a chance to speak during his sentencing hearing Friday.
Politico
Morehouse graduates brace, anxiously, for Biden visit
On the eve of the president’s commencement address, students expressed anxiety about whether their big moment would be overshadowed.
Associated Press
Alice Stewart, CNN political commentator and veteran political adviser, dies at 58
Alice Stewart, a CNN political commentator and veteran political adviser who worked on a number of GOP presidential campaigns, has died at age 58, the news network reported Saturday. Police in northern Virginia told CNN that Stewart's body was found outdoors in the Bellevue neighborhood early Saturday morning and that no foul play was suspected. In an email to staff, the network's CEO Mark Thompson called Stewart “a very dear friend and colleague to all of us at CNN.”

Latest Stories