Sooke Brewing Company says it has fired co-owner and head brewer John Adair after a photo of him wearing a T-shirt at the brewery that said “Show me the evidence” on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation drew heavy backlash online. 

The picture quickly made the rounds on the social media platform Threads as well as being posted on Reddit in several subreddits. 

Outrage and disgust over the T-shirt were voiced on both platforms, with some users suggesting people take to Google Reviews to drop the brewery’s star rating. Soon after, a large influx of one-star reviews were seen on their Google page, most with comments about the T-shirt.

Many of the reviews pointed out how Adair chose to wear the T-shirt to work on National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and how this looked to survivors. 

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation honours Survivors of the residential school system, the children who never returned home, and their families and communities.

While Sooke Brewing Company has released statements regarding the picture of Adair in the T-shirt, Adair has not made a comment on the meaning behind the saying “Show me the evidence.”

The brewery initially responded on Thursday morning, issuing an apology and confirming the person in the photo was in fact a member of its ownership group. They identified the T-shirt as “offensive.”

“We want to be unequivocal: the message displayed on that shirt does not reflect the values of Sooke Brewing Company,” the ownership group said.

The brewery went on to call the incident “inappropriate and unacceptable” and apologized for any harm that was caused by the T-shirt, especially within the Indigenous community.

After initially issuing their apology, Sooke Brewing Company issued another statement later Thursday morning, publicly naming Adair and announcing his termination, “effective immediately.”

The second statement said that Adair’s “views and actions do not reflect the values of Sooke Brewing Company, its ownership or its staff,” adding that it was “devastated by his actions.”

The company decided to close the brewery “for now.”

The brewery says it has contacted local First Nations leaders to listen to concerns and guide appropriate next steps. 

“Sooke is our home. We grew up here. We live here. And we work here,” the company said. “We care deeply about this community and the people who are part of it.”

Sooke Brewing Company was a joint ownership between five people, including Adair. It is not clear what the firing of Adair has done to this partnership. 

A final statement was followed on Thursday afternoon saying that all events at the brewery were cancelled. It thanked everyone who had supported them over the years.