Yesterday, Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) canceled a cruise organized by a Canadian media group, Rebel Media, in response to pressure from an anti-racist organization.
The "Rebel Cruise" was touted by Canadian media personality and far-right provocateur Gavin McInnes who advertised the cruise aboard NCL’s Getaway as "a week at sea with like-minded folks . . . talking about making Canada great again."
In the past, Rebel Media has sponsored cruises with Miami-based cruise lines.
McInnes has made outrageous statements about Jews, women, and blacks, according to news reports. Rebel Media has been accused of promoting far right, anti-immigrant, Islamophobic, white-supremacist fringe groups, according to numerous newspapers including the Independent.
An U.K.-based group, Hope Not Hate, campaigned against the "Rebel Cruise." Hope Not Hate described the cruise as a "hate-filled holiday." It asked its supporters to sign a petition calling for NCL to ban the group. The advocacy group say that Mr. McInnes had ties to Jason Kessler, the white supremist activist who organized the neo-Nazi / KKK/ alt-right "Unite the Right" protest which erupted in violence in Charlottesville this last weekend. Both McInnes and Kessler are reportedly members of Proud Boys, a far-right male-only organization, according to the Miami Herald.
Rebel Media demanded that NCL reinstate the cruise, claimimg that NCL should "announce that they will not discriminate against conservatives on their cruise line." A representative of Rebel Media argued in an email to the Miami Herald that NCL "wasn’t fair, and they smeared our reputations too."
The Canadian newspaper, the National Post, meanwhile, reports that Rebel Media seems to be falling apart. Mr. McInnes announced that he is leaving Rebel Media and the media group just fired a prominent Rebel Media reporter, Faith Goldy, who had covered the "Unite the Right" protest in Charlottesville and provided a perspective which was sympathetic to the neo-Nazis. She recently appeared in a podcast from Charlottesville on the "dailystormer" website, operated by neo-Nazis and white supremecist groups (before they lost their web hosting by several internet providers).
Ms. Goldy and Mr. McInnes were listed as "featured speakers" on the now cancelled "Rebel Cruise."
Kudos to NCL for not not giving cover to this group of bigots.
Have a thought? Please leave a comment below or join the discussion on our Facebook page.