Hat Store Apologizes Over Backlash for Selling Nazi-Like ‘Not Vaccinated’ Yellow Stars

By Hellen Zaboulani

A hat shop in Nashville, Tennessee apologized on Saturday night for selling “Not Vaccinated” badges that are strikingly similar to the yellow stars Jews were forced to wear by Nazis. As reported by the NY Post, the shop, HatWRKS, run by haberdasher Gigi Gaskins, ignited online outrage after it advertised the $5 anti-vax badges, modeled after the stars used to single out and demean Jewish people in Nazi-occupied countries.

The apology came after the store received backlash in the form of protests, threats of a boycott and the loss of at least one business partner. “In NO WAY did I intend to trivialize the Star of David or disrespect what happened to millions of people,” said the unsigned apology on the Instagram page of hatWRKS. “My hope was to share my genuine concern & fear and to do all that I can to make sure nothing like that ever happens again. I sincerely apologize for any insensitivity.”

Amid the criticism, one of the shop’s partners, the John B Stetson Company, announced on late Saturday that it will no longer sell 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,” the partner wrote on Twitter.

Goorin Bros, another hat distributer, also took to Instagram to share that it was “horrified” by the star being sold. “Goorin Bros is horrified by the display and selling of the Jewish badge by HatWRKS, a store in Nashville Tennessee, that sells some of our hats,” the company posted. “To make a mockery of the Holocaust in any form is unacceptable and completely insensitive. We are looking at all options to fix and address this unfortunate circumstance.”

As per the Post, HatWRKS’ instagram page had initially replaced the picture showing off the star by posting the following unsigned note: “[P]eople are so outraged by my post … but are you outraged with the tyranny the world is experiencing?” “[I]f 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 & compliance,” the statement said. “[T]hat is the worse [sic] crime. [I]t was then & is now. [I] will delete your disgust and hope you put it where it belongs.” The statement was then replaced with its apology.