Sandwich chain Jimmy John's is the latest target of a boycott after old photos showing owner Jimmy John Liautaud posing with African animals that he legally hunted resurfaced.
The hashtag #boycottjimmyjohns trended on Twitter after "Star Wars" actor Mark Hamill brought attention to an old photo of Liautaud posing with an elephant that he hunted.
Thumbs up to a boycott of all @jimmyjohns restaurants! (with apologies for posting this obscene photo) 🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮… https://t.co/fYlUhuQbXa— Mark Hamill (@Mark Hamill)1566591047.0
The photo that Hamill tweeted has since been deleted, but that didn't stop Hamill from sharing additional photos on Saturday.
Others, like Brother Nature, an account with more than 2 million followers, soon followed Hamill's lead.
We boycotting Jimmy Johns https://t.co/pIjgVbJmCM— Brother Nature (@Brother Nature)1566546072.0
Only jerks give two thumbs up after murdering a peaceful animal in their home. This is the CEO of @JimmyJohns over… https://t.co/Zb64tblUXN— PETA (@PETA)1566591346.0
The owner of Jimmy Johns is a repeat offender. Feel free to stop buying his sandwiches and funding his inhumane e… https://t.co/CJTgwfuZIx— Simran Jeet Singh (@Simran Jeet Singh)1566567428.0
When an elephant was tasked with laying down logs in pre-dug holes, it outright refused when a dog was sleeping in… https://t.co/qGBX5VchkP— Eugene Gu, MD (@Eugene Gu, MD)1566571048.0
However, despite the outrage and boycott, Liautaud no longer hunts large animals in Africa. In fact, he told the Chicago Tribune in 2015 that he stopped doing so more than a decade prior.
"I choose to hunt and I choose to fish," he told the newspaper. "Everything I've done has been totally legal. And the meat has been eaten, if not by me than by someone I'm with. I don't hunt big African game anymore."
This is not the first time Jimmy John's has faced a boycott over Liautaud's photos. The popular sandwich chain faced similar backlash in 2015 when the same photos surfaced.
