HuffPost reports that Sky News reporter Caroline Marcus has come under fire for a racist Halloween costume.
In an Instagram post, Marcus shared an image of her and her husband Jake holding boxes with “Wuhan bats ¥10” written on them. Their young son is dressed in a bat costume sitting in Jake’s box.
“Because what could seriously be more terrifying in 2020 than a couple of Wuhan street vendors hawking one very edible bat?” Marcus captioned the post.
Media personalities Melissa Hoyer and Jacinta Tynan actually showed support for Marcus, decrbing her post as “the best” in the comments section.
Another commenter was less enthusiastic, writing “I hope you’ll take a step back and consider how offensive this might be to a group of people, particularly during this time when violence is being perpetrated against people of Asian backgrounds because of views like this.”
Over 8 in 10 Asian Australians faced racism amid the Coronavirus pandemic.
“As a journalist, I hope you’ll take some time to reflect on why this is not cool,” another said.
Journalist Lavender Baj shared Marcus’s images, criticising her of the “horrible” costumes and the “racist” depiction involving her son.
In other news, a Chinese restaurant in Victoria received a racist letter telling the owners to “go back to Wuhan”.
