William Sitwell, editor of Waitrose Food Magazine, has caused controversy with a joke about “killing vegans” in response to a vegan freelance journalist pitching work to the magazine.
Journalist Selene Nelson said the response came after she suggested “a series on vegan cooking”, with plant-based recipes, to Sitwell for the publication.
In an email published by BuzzFeed, Sitwell wrote: “Thanks for this. How about a series on killing vegans, one by one? Ways to trap them?
“How to interrogate them properly? Expose their hypocrisy? Force-feed them meat? Make them eat steak and drink red wine?”
Following the article on @BuzzFeed – and in the interests of transparency – here's my original pitch to the editor of Waitrose, along with my response to his reply. No "triggered vegans" here, thanks! ?? #Vegan #Waitrose pic.twitter.com/bjRon1N0bb
— Selene Nelson Ⓥ (@Selene_Nelson) October 29, 2018
Speaking about the email on Twitter, Nelson said: “I legit thought it was a hoax too when I got the reply … very strange when he could have just said ‘No thanks, I’ll pass’.”
In a statement, Waitrose said: “Even though this was a private email, William’s gone too far and his words are extremely inappropriate, insensitive and absolutely do not represent our views.”
Sitwell said: “I love and respect people of all appetites, be they vegan, vegetarian or meat-eaters, which I show week in, week out through my writing, editing and broadcasting.
“I apologise profusely to anyone who has been offended or upset by this.”
In addition to editing Waitrose’s food magazine, Sitwell has frequently appeared as a critic for contestants’ work on food competition Masterchef UK.
