Notorious WA vegan Tash Peterson has been caught up in a fiery exchange on live UK television after controversial host Piers Morgan slammed her for comparing farm animals to victims of the Holocaust.
Morgan, hosting his show Uncensored, kicked off Peterson’s appearance by suggesting that one of the reasons people were turned off by veganism was because they were “fed up with being shouted at”.
“You’re (Peterson) one of those people that runs into restaurants and plays sounds from screaming animals in abattoirs and so on,” he said.
“No, I don’t think so at all, I think it brings more attention to the animal holocaust,” Peterson countered.
“Why would you use the word holocaust,” Morgan interrupted.
“Holocaust is the mass extermination of more than six million Jewish people by Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.
“Why would you use that very emotive language knowing it would offend people?”
Peterson, who was wearing an oversized black t-shirt featuring the text ‘end this holocaust’ and an image of a pig in a cage, smugly replied that it was “just a factual statement”.
“If you look at the definition of a holocaust it is slaughter or destruction on a mass scale,” she said.
“Multiple holocausts have occurred throughout human history and non-human animals can be subjected to the same atrocities that humans can.”
Conservative political commentator Tomi Lahren, the daughter of cattle ranchers, also appeared on the segment — saying she too was offended by Peterson’s statements.
“Speaking of the animal holocaust I think is a ridiculous thing to say,” Lahren added.
“There is no one that cares more for their animals than those in the ranching and farming communities.”
At the beginning of the segment, Morgan attempted to inject a bit of humour asking Peterson if she went by the name “Vegan or V-Gan or Miss Booty or what” referring to her Instagram handle.
“Tash Peterson is fine,” she replied.
Peterson also used the segment to accuse TV presenter and one-time SAS trooper Bear Grylls of being a “fake vegan”.
Morgan pointed out that Bear Grylls had recently given up veganism because he realised it was “bad for the environment and bad for himself”.
“He was never a vegan in the first place,” Tash countered.
“Veganism is an ethical view against animal abuse and murder.”
“He wrote a vegan cookbook,” Piers spluttered. “Are you calling him a liar?”
“People go by that label all the time but if they truly hold an ethical view against animal abuse and murder they’d never turn their back on veganism,” Peterson said.
Piers finished the segment by saying to Peterson there were better tactics to convince people to go vegan “than running into restaurants and playing noises of screaming animals”.
Peterson is currently in the UK for the Vegan Camp Out Festival where she will appear as a guest speaker.
She had to be cleared by a Perth court to travel overseas after she was charged with failing to leave a licensed venue, disorderly conduct and trespass.
Peterson is due to be back in WA for her next court appearance on July 31 but will appear via videolink from Europe.
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