Tennessee hat shop hatWRKS, who caused online backlash over its controversial decision to sell yellow star patches saying “not vaccinated”, has found itself ostracized by several prominent hat makers soon after as critics condemned the badges, similar to ones Nazis forced Jews to wear during the Holocaust, The Hill writes.
The backlash started after the owner of the store posted a photo on Instagram with a yellow sticker shaped like the Star of David with the words “Not Vaccinated”, with Twitter community starting trending hashtag #HateWorks.
Prominent American hat maker John B. Stetson announced on Twitter that it was no longer selling its hats with the HatWRKS store as a result of the offensive content and opinions shared by HatWRKS in Nashville.
Hat maker Goorin Bros wrote on Instagram that it is horrified by the unacceptable and completely insensitive mockery of the Holocaust that Jewish badges by HatWRKS represent.
HatWRKS published two Instagram posts Friday defending its move by saying people are outraged by the badges but not the tyranny the world is experiencing, and expressing fears that people could not return to normal life without “showing your papers.”
Yet, protestors surrounded the store on Saturday holding up a “No Nazis in Nashville” sign in front of the store, so on Saturday evening, HatWRKS posted an apology to Instagram, saying that in NO WAY did they intend to trivialize the Star of David or disrespect what happened to millions of people.
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