Company That Touted Anti-vax Yellow Stars Finally Apologises

AT first it was defiant, but after waves of fury on social media turned into a full scale tsunami, a hat company in Tennessee – HatWRKS, run by Gigi Gaskins – has apologised for ‘trivialising’ a symbol the Nazi’s used to identify Jews during the Holocaust.

Outrage on social media, plus two protests which forced it to shutter, followed after the Nashville company posted a photo of Gaskins, inset, wearing a bright yellow star sticker with the words: “Not Vaccinated.”

According to this report, social media users responded with the hashtag #HateWorks, calling the sticker anti-Semitic and “disgusting.” The original Instagram post had thousands of comments before being taken down.

At first Gaskins responded with an Instagram statement defending the move:

People are so outraged by my post? But are you outraged with the tyranny the world is experiencing? If you don’t understand what is happening, that is on you not me. I pay much more respect to history by standing up with the fallen than offering silence and compliance.

In a separate Instagram post, @hatwrksnashville said it was drawing a “historical parallel to fascism,” hypothetically if people start having to “show your papers” regarding vaccination.

We can only fight back not to relive history.

The Tennessee Holocaust Commission responded to the post on Saturday, calling it “horrific.” It said in a Facebook post:

We have seen a surge in antisemitism across the US and abroa. We must continue to speak out. Using the yellow star or any Holocaust imagery or symbols for another purpose is beyond reprehensible and a disservice to the memory of the six million Jews who were systematically murdered in the Holocaust

The Jewish Federation & Jewish Foundation of Nashville & Middle Tennessee also responded to the controversy on Facebook on Sunday.

Thank you to everyone locally and nationally who expressed collective outrage regarding the offensiveness of Nazi and Holocaust imagery to promote a political agenda here in Nashville. This level of willful ignorance and craven cruelty is a disservice to the memory of the six million Jews who were murdered during the Holocaust …

In the coming days, the Jewish community will continue to call on all Nashvillians, including religious, civic, business and political organizations and leaders, to work with us to make sure that our community is one of respect, love and belonging. This is a time to continue to come together as a community with positive action, to ensure that Nashville is a #NOHATE community, where everyone feels safe, welcome and included.

Calling the original Star of David post “offensive,” iconic hatmaker Stetson USA announced on its Twitter account on Saturday that it would stop distributing its products to the store.

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.

It was only after Stetson’s reaction did the company begin panicking, and offered an apology saying its intention was not meant to “trivialize” or “disrespect” what happened during the Holocaust.

In no way did I intend to trivialize the Star of David or disrespect what happened to millions of people. That is not who I am & what I stand for. My intent was not to exploit or make a profit. My hope was to share my genuine concern & fear, and to do all that I can to make sure that nothing like that ever happens again. I sincerely apologize for any insensitivity.

However, Gaskins said on social media on Sunday her “fear” of the federal government’s hypothetical future actions against those not vaccinated, is a concern.

For the last 15mos, I have been pushing back on the government overreach, standing up to group think, trying to find reason in a sea of irrational. I was willing to put my business on the line to stand up for freedoms that we still have in our country. What I didn’t expect is being accused of the very things I was fighting against.

We have watched this play out for over a year … from the protests, the burnings, lootings, taking cities hostage, desecrating monuments, desmantling [sic] our police, watching people get murdered in the name of justice.

Posts from her social media accounts representing HatWRKS show her criticism of the current administration and the way the federal government has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a recent social media post on Facebook, she says instead of being “woke,” HatWRKS is “awake.” Gaskins has also welcomed customers to shop mask-free.

This report adds that Gaskins has lost partnerships with other companies, including well-knowm name Kangol, which said:

We feel strongly that we were right to give Gigi Gaskins at hatWRKS Nashville the chance to change. We did that. However, her further posts indicate to us that she is not sincere in her apology, nor has she removed offensive posts from her feed. We are permanently terminating hatWRKS Nashville as a customer of our brand effective immediately.

Our company has a core value of respect. While we respect freedom of speech, respect for humanity must hold a higher place. The use of the Star of David by our customer as a statement against vaccination was not just insensitive, but disrespectful and wrong. We encouraged our customer to issue a sincere apology for her mistake and have suspended her account in the meantime.

Fun fact: Hollywood star Samuel L Jackson is well known for wearing Kangol caps, and said in a video that his grandfather wore Kangol. The highest grossing star of all time also said in 2019 that Trump:

Is ruining the planet and all kinds of other crazy shit. And the people think that’s OK. It’s not fuckining OK.

Just how deranged is Haskins? For starters, she’s an ardent Trump supporter, and fell hook, line and sinker for the “stolen election” conspiracy.

In April 2020, Gaskins began attending protests against COVID-19 restrictions at the Tennessee capitol.

In August, she added a Trump 2020 sign to the front of her store and wrote on Instagram:

New signage up today!! go get ’em cowboy!! we’ve got nothing to lose. if the globalists win it’s all over anyway. even if trump wins, the battle will continue, they aren’t going away …… but i do believe he is our only hope. stand up for what you believe in, be prepared to fight !! there has been no other time in our lives. that i believe……”