Innocent ‘stand against discrimination’ and apologise for following blogger who upset trans people

Innocent Drinks today faced a transgender row after apologising for following a 76-year-old woman who said: ‘In life or in death, trans women are not women’.

The smoothie company unfollowed Margaret Nelson, a former humanist celebrant and journalist from Suffolk, after being questioned by a Twitter user.

The user, Andrew @leftist_rage, asked the firm: ‘Innocent, may I ask why you follow @flashmaggie? You follow a clear transphobe, who runs the account?’

Scotland-based Andrew added last Thursday: ‘I love your Twitter content but endorsing them is not an accident, it’s not as if they’re a celebrity. Even if you disagree, it’s still too political for an innocent drink company. Pun intended.’

In response, Innocent said ‘we stand against discrimination’ and unfollowed her because her content ‘wasn’t in line with our values of inclusivity and respect’. 

Innocent Drinks unfollowed Margaret Nelson, a former teacher and journalist from Suffolk

Innocent thanked Twitter user Andrew for the ‘heads up’ and assured him it had been ‘sorted’

Douglas Lamont is the chief executive of Innocent Drinks, which is based in West London

Innocent, which is based in Ladbroke Grove, West London, thanked Andrew for giving it a ‘heads up’ and reassured him last Friday that it had ‘sorted that’.

However, defending herself, Mrs Nelson said: ‘Me? A transphobe? One of my trans followers has just tweeted that she loves me, so how does that work?

‘Being critical of trans activist behaviour, defending women’s rights, and supporting organisations that are concerned about child protection doesn’t make anyone a transphobe.’ 

Since the interaction and Innocent’s decision to unfollow Mrs Nelson’s page, some people have expressed their outrage on social media and others said they plan to boycott the company. 

It is not the first time Mrs Nelson has come under fire for her views. She was woken up by a phone call from Suffolk Police in February 2019 to warn the then 74-year-old that her online posts about gender identity not extending beyond the grave had offended transgender people. 

In a January 2019 blog post rebutting a tweet she received – which read ‘trans women ARE women fact’ – Mrs Nelson wrote that if a transgender person’s body was dissected post-mortem, ‘his or her sex would be obvious to a student or pathologist’.

After unfollowing Mrs Nelson last Friday, the company has faced a backlash for its decision

Mrs Nelson challenged the tweeters claims that she was ‘transphobe’ and said she is ‘critical of trans activist behaviour’

In a statement, Innocent said: ‘Over the years we’ve followed a lot of people on here, and time to time we’ve unfollowed some too. 

‘The other day we unfollowed a Twitter account because content on their feed about trans people wasn’t in line with our values of inclusivity and respect. This made some poeple on Twitter quite cross. 

‘We’ve still got work to do but we believe that everyone should be protected from discrimination. We will continue to make sure that our social media channels remain fair and inclusive.

‘It’s on all of us to make sure everyone can live happy, free lives and we will keep working towards a world where that’s a reality.’ 

Reaction to Innocent’s decision to unfollow Mrs Nelson has been mixed.  

 

Opinons regarding Innocent’s decision to unfollow Mrs Nelson were mixed – with some people suggesting they would boycott the company

Journalist and Brexit campaigner Darren Grimes tweeted: ‘Innocent has seen fit to apologise for following a pensioner.

‘Denouncing her online because she believes ‘man’ and ‘woman’ to be defined by biology. They can keep their overpriced pulp. 

‘”Transphobia” used to mean the fear or loathing of trans people, it now means being pro-truth.’

Sharing Innocent’s statement, star of hit show Lewis Laurence Fox said: ‘That’s a shame. My kids liked your overly expensive smoothies.’ 

In contrast, others praised Innocent with one applauding that the company ‘held their nerve despite the pile on’.