The manager of a Sydney pub has been fired for a social media post that told its customers to “keep calm and slap a bitch” while watching the NRL finals.
The Coopers hotel in Newtown has been widely criticised by patrons and locals for a Facebook post which many interpreted as making light of domestic violence – especially after statistics showed domestic assaults surged by 40% on State of Origin nights.
On Wednesday night, the hotel launched a promotion on its Facebook page that appeared to mock sports fans who don’t know much about rugby league.
“Keep calm and slap a bitch as we approach the finals of this years NRL! Live and loud every game,” it said. Below, it posted an image of Batman slapping Robin for not knowing the difference between a try and a touchdown.
On Wednesday night, the post was deleted and the hotel’s manager posted an apology: “Hi all, my name is Gary Wright, I am the general manager of the Coopers Hotel and I wholly apologise for the recent post by myself on our social media platform.”
After critical comments on the initial post, the page edited it to say: “Keep calm and hug like you can’t take a joke.”
On Thursday morning, a post from the pub’s licensees said Wright had been fired.
“As some of you may be aware, yesterday a staff member posted a meme with an inappropriate comment on our Facebook page. We have taken action in relation to that staff member.
“Their employment has been immediately terminated and they no longer work at the hotel. Their behaviour does not reflect who we are.”
Commenters had earlier accused the pub of being insensitive and making a joke of the link between alcohol and domestic assault.
Maddison Passarelli, who volunteers for anti-domestic violence initiatives, wrote: “Just to clarify it’s not just a Batman and Robin ‘meme’, it’s a direct joke about domestic violence. It’s not acceptable. If you can’t see that then you’re part of the problem.”
She told Guardian Australia that jokes about violence against women contributed to a culture that allowed it to happen.
“In the last year alone, I have seen people use platforms such as Tinder and Facebook to incite violence against women, to joke about it and make light of real, lived experiences,” she said. “The harsh reality is, women in 2018 are living in a world where the violence inflicted upon them, whilst a national tragedy, is also considered the national joke.”
She said the Coopers hotel should force their employees to undergo mandatory training and education about domestic violence.
The NSW Greens MP Jenny Leong said it felt like “a crazy dream” that the post had happened.
“I feel like I will wake up in a minute and tell someone about this crazy dream I had where a pub in Newtown thought it was okay to post a vile, sexist and highly disrespectful post and image about ‘slapping a bitch’ in order to promote the NRL and then tried to edit it to make it better and then posted an apology,” she commented on Facebook. “But I fear it’s not a dream.”
Earlier this month, the pub’s Twitter account had also tweeted: “Stop by and see what comes cheap! $10 burgers and 10c ladies”.
The Coopers hotel has been contacted for comment.