Extraordinary row erupts over Aussie’s NYC sushi restaurant

Alex Marks, a white woman from Australia, was branded a “coloniser” for opening an Australian-style sushi restaurant in NYC.

An Aussie living in New York City became the target of a merciless online bullying campaign because she was selling sushi.

Her crime? She is white.

Alex Marks was called a “coloniser” after she opened Sushi Counter in the West Village earlier this month.

She posted a TikTok video under the name Sushi Sheila in which she explained how she quit her job as a corporate lawyer to pursue her small business venture.

Sushi Counter sells “Australian-style” sushi including teriyaki chicken, spicy tuna, and avocado and cucumber for $5 a roll (AUD$7.90) or three for $12(AUD $19).

Her seemingly innocuous business attracted the ire of Eric Rivera, a chef from North Carolina, who promptly accused Ms Marks of cultural appropriation.

Alex Marks was subjected to online bullying for selling 'Aussie sushi'.

Sushi Counter opened in the West Village a few weeks ago and was hit by online trolls. Tamara Beckwith/NY POST

“But it’s ‘stralian sushi. Give me a break coloniser,” Rivera posted.

“If you don’t see why this is a problem, you are the problem.”

His post was widely shared and keyboard warriors flooded Google with nasty one-star reviews of Sushi Counter.

The online harassment got so intense, that Ms Marks wiped her TikTok clean.

One of Rivera’s followers called X Queer Latifah said: “The contradiction & cognitive dissonance is maddening.

“[Marks] feels she can’t ‘afford’ decent sushi in NYC, a place that has one of the largest & vastly diverse Asian populations? So instead, she finances her own sushi spot. Colonisation is white & quite scary to see in real time.”

“The last thing anyone needs are blonde hair, Australian white women appropriating Japanese cuisine,” one reviewer wrote, according to The Publica.

Rivera (left), whose parents are from Puerto Rico, is a chef himself. @ericriveracooks/Instagram.

“We’re sick of the disrespect inflicted upon our cultures by white people, enough is enough.”

However the tide soon turned on Rivera and his angry mob with people on social media working to uncancel Ms Marks, boosting her Google rating to 4.5.

Many pointed out that Australian sushi is actually a thing, cheaply sold in shopping malls across the country.

Political commentator Matt Walsh spoke out in defence of Ms Marks on the Daily Wire.

“As a sane person myself I can’t fathom how anyone could conjure those kinds of emotions in relation to a sushi restaurant,” Mr Walsh said.

“The first and most obvious thing is that this deranged standard is only ever applied to white people and would never - and has never - gone the other way.

Ms Marks was attacked for her Australian-style sushi restaurant in Manhattan. (File image)

“You’ll never hear of a pizza place being bombarded with negative reviews because it’s owned by an Asian guy. Or a burger joint being protested because it’s run by a Hispanic woman.

“You’ll certainly never hear anyone telling a black chef what sorts of cuisine he isn’t allowed to cook based on his race.”

Rivera, meanwhile, was flagged as a flawed evangelist after it emerged he had plans to open his own Puerto Rican-Japanese fusion restaurant.

And according to his Instagram page, he sells his own homemade pasta. Mamma mia!

With the New York Post.