A radio DJ who teased a 16-year-old New Zealand climate activist cruelly after she confessed to traveling to Fiji for vacation has come under fire from the teen’s mother.
Izzy Cook’s mother, Rose Cook, who organized the Wellington school climate strike, wrote an angry response after hearing her daughter do the phone interview at the Cooks’ house.
For the New Zealand website The Spinoff, Ms. Cook said, “I watched in horror as my 16-year-old daughter had a phone call with someone who looked to be harassing her, laughing at her, and talking over her.”
Heather du Plessis-Allan, the well-known radio personality who interviewed Izzy, should be embarrassed of how she abused my daughter, according to Ms. Cook, who also said that she did not give a “sh*t about climate change.”
Du Plessis-Allan, according to Ms. Cook, set up a “gotcha” situation “to defame her (Izzy) personally and disrupt the discourse about climate action.”
Izzy expresses to Du Plessis-Allan throughout the interview her belief that it would be a good idea to restrict flying to just “authorized events.”
“Am I permitted to go to Fiji, is that required?”
Asks Du Plessis-Allan.
Izzy responds, “I don’t believe that’s essential given the present climate issue.”
How recently have you ridden on a plane?
Du Plessis-Allan poses an apparent benign question.
Izzy responds hesitantly.
To be honest, she replies, “I’m not sure… a few months ago.”
“Where’d you go?’ Du Plessis-Allan exerts pressure.
The resigned reply is “Fiji.”
Izzy!” Du Plessis shouts while giggling uncontrollably.
Once her laughter had temporarily subsided, she remarks, “Izzy, don’t you worry about the environment Izzy?”
Naturally, I care about the environment, Izzy responds firmly.
In between bursts of uncontrollable laughing, Du Plessis-Allan manages to say, “Not enough, you went to… you… went… to… Fiji.”
Du Plessis-Allan manages to address the very quiet Izzy in between chuckles.
Come on, buddy, Izzy!
…Are you kidding?
Izzy, are you really real?
‘You visited Fiji, right?’
Plessis, Du
-Allan exclaims.
Are you still there, Izzy? Are you serious?
Izzy cuts in.
Du Plessis-Allan continues to chuckle in the background as the adolescent adds, “It’s fairly ironic, but to be honest, it’s not exactly a vacation I wanted to go on but I can’t really get out of it.”
Why did you leave?
Du Plessis-Allan grills the subject.
My parents wanted to travel, so that’s why. I wasn’t going to go,” Izzy says.
Are you ashamed that your parents destroyed the earth and then had you participate in it as well?
Asks Du Plessis-Allan.
Izzy insistently responds, “Of course I am not ashamed.”
Did you have a bad time, I asked.
– Du Plessis
Allan returns fire.
“Not at all…” Izzy responds, but is once again silenced by Du Plessis-hysterical Allan’s laughing.
Du Plessis-Allan barely manages to stop her laughter as she says, “Izzy… I’m sorry… friend… listen you’re such a champion, I believe you’ve got a wonderful career ahead of you and are you going another strike soon.”
Yeah, we’ll look at that, Izzy responds.
Before once again bursting into laughter, Du Plessis-Allan adds, “I will speak to you again, I may get you back on the program.”
One person who did not like Du Plessis-humor Allan’s was Ms. Cook.
She said it was her decision to go to Fiji, and Izzy came very grudgingly.
When Ms Cook looked at Izzy’s Instagram profile and saw the trip to Fiji, she came to the conclusion that Du Plessis-Allan had pounced on her daughter.
She wrote about how her daughter worked “extremely hard” to further her cause, saying that “our young people are really concerned about the society they are inheriting.”
“That is what counts.”
This year, Heather du Plessis-Allan gave birth to a child. I really hope that nobody ever talks to her kid in the manner in which she did to mine.
There was disagreement about whether Du Plessis-interview Allan’s was fair among those who left comments on Twitter after The Spinoff posted Ms. Cook’s story.
‘Precious. One remark stated, “The girl was proposed to front an agenda, and now there is indignation because she failed and was made fun of.”
It may not be appropriate to see children as the source of all knowledge, as Greta did. We probably didn’t know much about anything at age 16.
Greta is a reference to Greta Thunberg, a well-known Swedish young activist who started the global campaign for school climate strikes.
The remark elicited a hostile response.
However, the Twitter user said that she “didn’t fail at all.”
She is a brave and devoted young lady. If you think that there is a hidden goal behind climate change, I hope you and your family stay far away from areas that may experience starvation, storms, fires, droughts, and flooding in the near future.
Izzy should be prepared for such questions after taking on a prominent position, according to one user.
“Get on the ride; buy the ticket.” You may anticipate some tough questions if you wish to criticize society. The user added, “The author and her daughter are hypocrites.”
Another commentator, however, criticized Du Plessis-actions. Allan’s
There are two types of questioning: “robust” and “HDPA did,” which they described as “a childish show of ridicule and amusement at the expense of a youngster.”
In one debate, there was a little more complexity and, surprisingly for social media, some slowly forming agreement.
“She wasn’t harassed.” She was made fun of for her hypocrisy, a commenter on Twitter stated.
To be fair, there is a thin line when discussing children, another person said.
Another reader said, “To be fair, kids shouldn’t be exploited as props in propaganda operations.”
I concur entirely, the second responder said.
However, I do wonder to what extent a politically conscious (though ignorant) 16-year-old may assert that their parents are manipulating them. In this instance, I agree that the mother did this, although not entirely without the child’s help. We are in agreement.