Media personality and Bachelorette star Georgia Love has been dumped from a role following backlash after a social media post.
Georgia Love has been dumped from her role as an ambassador for Chadstone Shopping Centre after the reporter and reality star faces ongoing backlash over a social media post.
The former Bachelorette and now Channel 7 reporter posted a video to Instagram on Monday of a cat which was sitting inside an Asian restaurant.
Accompanying the video was the caption: “Shop attendant or lunch?”.
The criticism came in thick and fast with key figures accusing her of casual racism. Ms Love deleted the video about an hour later but the damage had already been done.
Chadstone Shopping Centre issued a statement on Friday which said the organisation was “disappointed”.
“We were disappointed by a social media post this week by one of our friends of the Chadstone brand and, as a result, we issued notice to end our contract with Georgia,” the statement read.
“We always support diversity and welcome a range of customers and retailers every day, without prejudice or discrimination, as we work to ensure our centre is a safe and inclusive place for our community to come together.”
Ms Love apologised shortly after posting the video.
She wrote: “Earlier I posted a video of a cat in a restaurant window.
“I meant for this to be a joke about an animal being in a restaurant at lunch service time.
“I meant absolutely no insinuation about the type of animal nor the type of restaurant, but I see that my post did not come across like that and was offensive.
“I sincerely apologise for the oversight and offence I have caused.”
She also thanked those who called her out and promised to do better.
The post sparked criticism from MasterChef host Melissa Leong who said casual racism from nice people was “possibly the most betraying and insidious kind”.
“Not angry, just completely bummed that this video exists and that it isn’t the first joke of this kind made by her,” she said.
“Georgia, I really hope your remorse is real and that you grow in the right direction, because this stuff hurts more people, more than you think. We must be allies for each other for a better world for all.”
Ms Love was announced as the Chadstone Shopping Centre’s ambassador just last month.
Her employer Channel 7 also confirmed it would be investigating the post.