Facebook has removed the page of Pete Evans, an Australian celebrity chef

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Facebook has removed the page of Pete Evans, an Australian celebrity chef

Celebrity chef and conspiracy theorist Pete Evans has had his Facebook page permanently removed after he repeatedly breached the social media giant’s misinformation policies with posts about the coronavirus.

A Facebook spokesperson said the company did not allow anyone to share misinformation about Covid-19 that could lead to imminent physical harm or share misinformation about coronavirus vaccines that had been debunked by public health experts.

Evans posted on Instagram on Wednesday, telling his followers he had been “shut down” on Facebook “for a few days” over his vaccine posts. Facebook said the ban was permanent.

Evans was a judge on My Kitchen Rules between 2010 and 2020. He had over one million Facebook followers.

The celebrity chef has repeatedly made posts opposing Covid-19 vaccines and masks and claimed in a podcast that coronavirus was a hoax.

Evans’ company was fined more than $25,000 by the Therapeutic Goods Administration in April after he promoted a device called a BioCharger on a Facebook live stream claiming it could be used in relation to the coronavirus. The TGA said the claim had “no apparent foundation”.

Evans’ publisher ended its contract with him in November after he posted a cartoon on his social media accounts which included a neo-Nazi symbol used by the Christchurch terrorist.

“Pan Macmillan does not support the recent posts made by Pete Evans,” the publisher said at the time. “Those views are not our views as a company or the views of our staff.” Big W, Coles, Dymocks, Kmart and Booktopia were among the retailers to declare they would not sell his products after the post.

Evans, in a subsequent post, apologised to people who “misinterpreted” the cartoon.

“Sincere apologies to anyone who misinterpreted a previous post of a caterpillar and a butterfly having a chat over a drink and perceived that I was promoting hatred,” he said. “I look forward to studying all of the symbols that have ever existed and research them thoroughly before posting.”

The celebrity chef was also fired by Channel Ten on the day he was to start filming I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here!