TV show apologizes for using ‘offensive’ Newfie

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. (CP) — Celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain’s TV show has apologized for calling Newfoundlanders by a diminutive nickname many find offensive.

The Twitter account for CNN’s Parts Unknown used the term “Newfie” in a now-deleted tweet promoting this Sunday’s hotly anticipated episode on Newfoundland and Labrador.

The official Parts Unknown account shared an article with Newfoundland-related books and local slang, saying “Embrace the Newfies as they are.”

Users were quick to jump on the use of a term that’s considered derogatory, with origins implying Newfoundlanders are unintelligent and lazy.

One man tweeted that “a fair portion of Newfoundlanders find the term ‘Newfie’ offensive” and said it was hard to understand why they used it “in an otherwise excellent article.” “Ah, you had me until you called me a Newfie. I find it an derogatory term,” another said. User @staggcrystal wrote: “Come on CNN. It is Newfoundlanders.” Even as other Newfoundlanders said they didn’t find the term offensive, Seamus O’Regan, a St. John’s MP and the federal minister of veterans affairs, tweeted simply: “We don’t like it.” Late Thursday afternoon, the show offered an apology and appeared to delete the tweet. The celebrity chef visited the province last fall, dining with local chefs on delicacies from moose meat to authentic fish and chips.

Bourdain also visited the French island of St. Pierre off the coast of Newfoundland.