Catallaxy Files

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Don’t you just love a bit of celebrity hypocrisy?

92 comments

Yes, I had thought that Jamie Oliver had chunked up but we are all too polite to point this out if it were not for the fact that he has been carrying on like a sanctimonious git.

One female reporter learned that the hard away, according to Australia’s Herald Sun. When asked to comment on his expanding waistline, Oliver, 36, snapped: “Are you from a tabloid? Thank you for noticing, bitch!” It wasn’t initially clear if Oliver, who is known as the Naked Chef, was kidding around.

“I do my best,” Oliver later explained. “Working in the food business is quite hard when someone is constantly asking you to try things. I eat fresh. I train twice a week. I could definitely do better, but I am trying to do my best like most people when they hit 30.”

Oliver later apologized to the reporter, saying: “I went out last night and had a few drinks after a very long day. My brain did not quite understand that question.”

The restaurateur’s weight gain is ironic, given that he tried to end childhood obesity for two seasons on ABC’s Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution.

Written by Judith Sloan

March 9th, 2012 at 2:51 pm

Posted in Uncategorized

92 Responses to 'Don’t you just love a bit of celebrity hypocrisy?'

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  1. I can’t stand this lisping lard-ball.

    Every time he appears on screen, I switch channels.

    C.L.

    9 Mar 12 at 2:55 pm

  2. I actually think his school lunch program was decent. The slop the government was feeding the kiddies was atrocious.

    However he is lard arse and should abstain from carbs for a decade or two.

    Infidel Tiger

    9 Mar 12 at 2:56 pm

  3. Hypocrisy! There is only one r in it.

    m0nty

    9 Mar 12 at 3:18 pm

  4. Tabloid journalism would try the patience of a saint!

    I can see the rudeness, but where is the hypocrisy?

    He teaches healthy eating, although clearly his portion size needs examining.

    Max Scream

    9 Mar 12 at 3:19 pm

  5. He’s a lad that made good, and good on him for that.

    He’s become a tosser who should be kicked good and hard for the names he’s given his children! (Poppy Honey Rosie, Daisy Boo, Petal Blossom Rainbow, Buddy Bear.)

    Will Kane

    9 Mar 12 at 3:35 pm

  6. Is he obese?

    I think it’s ironic that he’s on a mission to save kids from obesity when what he seems to do best is roast meat lavished in oil. As for porky, well he’s always been chubby inne?

    Adrien

    9 Mar 12 at 3:51 pm

  7. I noticed that on his most recent tv show (the one of him in the motorized gypsy caravan), he did almost all his food prep sitting down. Wondered if he has some kind of health problem. That might also cause him to spew pseudo-cockney gibberish.

    Gerard

    9 Mar 12 at 3:52 pm

  8. I won pub trivia with a question about him last week, so he can’t be all bad.

    mareeS

    9 Mar 12 at 4:04 pm

  9. I’m a bit more worried about the fact that almost 45 million lazy slobs on the internet now want to kill Kony on the basis of an 30 minute video clip, like it’s some sort of video game.

    I’m all for pulling the trigger on this guy but if you don’t have the moral courage to do it yourself then clicking a link on Facebook asking for someone else to do it for you is pretty weak.

    New Gold Dream

    9 Mar 12 at 4:05 pm

  10. It’s an amazing piece of viral marketing though. Africa is full of Konys, which is why we’d never heard of this one.

    papachango

    9 Mar 12 at 4:10 pm

  11. He always carries on like a pork chop.

    His obesity is irrelevant to his unpleasant personality.

    I’ve never liked him and I never quite understood his appeal other than he was the ‘working class’ tv chef.

    Give me re-runs of Keith Floyd and his Stranglers intro any day.

    JamesK

    9 Mar 12 at 4:10 pm

  12. I think it’s ironic that he’s on a mission to save kids from obesity when what he seems to do best is roast meat lavished in oil.

    That meal wouldn’t make you fat. The roast potatoes and bread accompaniment would.

    Infidel Tiger

    9 Mar 12 at 4:11 pm

  13. Of all the things to battle, Judith, this should not be one of them. Here is a guy who believes in something strongly. He has enough conviction to go out there, investing his own time and money, and attempt to make a difference. I would much prefer this than a government mandated system of what to eat for breakfast, lunch and tea.

    We would be much better off if more people acted on their convictions, rather than stating that government should do something about it.

    J-man

    9 Mar 12 at 4:12 pm

  14. He’s become a tosser who should be kicked good and hard for the names he’s given his children! (Poppy Honey Rosie, Daisy Boo, Petal Blossom Rainbow, Buddy Bear.)

    I can forsee a case of patricide or lots of adolescent therapy sessions in the future.

    papachango

    9 Mar 12 at 4:13 pm

  15. OK people, in defence of Jamie. I like his no-nonsense approach to cooking, and his recipes. And, it appears, so do a lot of other people. Sales of his 30-minute meals books have gone ballistic.

    I don’t think he is being hypocritical, just going through a bit of normal biology and in a no-win situation because it is in full view.

    Biota

    9 Mar 12 at 4:28 pm

  16. Roast meat basted with lard will soon, once again, be acknowledged as a true health food.

    Will Kane

    9 Mar 12 at 4:34 pm

  17. Biota, I reckon any chubby person who lectures others about unhealthy eating, diabesity and the like, is by definition a hypocrite.

    Will Kane

    9 Mar 12 at 4:36 pm

  18. Healthy eating is neither dieting nor fitness.

    Healthy eating is not the entire solution to obesity, but its most of it.

    I’m sure executives at food fast companies only eat their junk for the cameras.

    The Herald Sun should follow them around executive luncheons eating foie-gras.

    Max Scream

    9 Mar 12 at 4:41 pm

  19. Sales of his 30-minute meals books have gone ballistic.

    It’s just a pity the recipes we’ve tried at home take 75 min.

    In any event, have a look at this pic of him at Ipswich a few days ago. He is far from obese.

  20. Max, whatever you eat certainly interferes with synaptic function.

    Biota

    9 Mar 12 at 4:46 pm

  21. I’m going to stick my neck out and defend Jamie here.

    For one, stopping governments serving kids loads of crap for lunch is a noble and honorable fight that nobody else was able to bring up as a high profile issue.

    The fact that he eats too much good food is a world away from feeding kids deep friend processed rubbish.

    His point has always been feeding them fresh food, freshly prepared, rather than training them to eat food that comes out of a factory. The most sobering thing about his school lunches programs was not the sludge being given to kids, but the fact that most of them couldn’t identify a vegetable in a classroom, let alone eat one for lunch.

    As they say, never trust a thin chef. And I trust him. There’s a world of poncy fashionable causes out there and you never see him sticking his hand up unless he means it. And good on him for throwing it back at a reporter while he was clearly out enjoying a few drinks and a good time.

    Besides, the man drives a Kombi with a Porsche engine stuffed in the back. He can’t be all that bad.

    brc

    9 Mar 12 at 4:47 pm

  22. SoB, nice one for once. Yes, not even chubby.

    Biota

    9 Mar 12 at 4:47 pm

  23. FMD Stevie, how does your family put up with you. Back to the ironing.

    Tiny Dancer

    9 Mar 12 at 4:47 pm

  24. I’ll tell you who I can’t stand – Curtis Stone. What a prize knob end.

    Infidel Tiger

    9 Mar 12 at 4:56 pm

  25. It’s just a pity the recipes we’ve tried at home take 75 min.

    Seriously?

    My recipes take 10 mins max to cook, 10 mins max to prepare

    jtfsoon

    9 Mar 12 at 4:56 pm

  26. I’m slow at preparation, so usually 20 minutes is lost looking for utensils that my wife has hidden.

  27. Well Stepford.

    You’re the house hubby, perhaps you could lay down the law in terms of where you want things etc… Or don’t you have that authority?…….even.

    Jc

    9 Mar 12 at 5:07 pm

  28. I tend to agree with brc. The fact that he’s a porky little lard ball doesn’t mean that what he’s been trying to do is a good thng.

    I recall he had some young people he was interviewing for his London restaurant years ago and some of these fuckers had never eaten veggies or seen salmon.

    I think on the whole he’s done some good shit.

    Jc

    9 Mar 12 at 5:11 pm

  29. Isn’t a good thing…

    Jc

    9 Mar 12 at 5:12 pm

  30. @brc – fair points.

    As much as the cockney laddism annoys me and gives his kids stupid hippie names, it is a noble cause.

    Plus he’s doing it by trying to educate and raise awareness, not by imposing a nanny state.

    Some of his recipes are all right too, but give me Stephanie Alexander any day.

    papachango

    9 Mar 12 at 5:15 pm

  31. I did criticise him for doing something very unnatural to a pig on TV, as well as for some of the series which he turned into melodrama about the media and his family (and those other series where it was all pukka mates coming over and surprise, here they are now) but strangely, now that he seems to mainly do straight forward recipes to camera again, I’ve started to find him watchable again.

  32. The best thing Jamie did was slaughter that swine in front of the kiddies.

    Infidel Tiger

    9 Mar 12 at 5:20 pm

  33. I did criticise him for doing something very unnatural to a pig on TV

    Killing a pig isn’t unnatural. Fucking it may be.

    Infidel Tiger

    9 Mar 12 at 5:22 pm

  34. He is an animal rights inclined type, though, which I would have thought would put off people from here. Especially Jason.

  35. Give me re-runs of Keith Floyd and his Stranglers intro any day.

    Amen.

    .

    9 Mar 12 at 5:24 pm

  36. It was manual stimulation, IT. (I’m not making this up.)

  37. He is an animal rights inclined type

    Haven’s to Betsy, the swine can have all the rights in the world, but when it’s chow time I’m afraid he’s going to die.

    Infidel Tiger

    9 Mar 12 at 5:31 pm

  38. My mistake, he offed a lamb, not a pig.

    Infidel Tiger

    9 Mar 12 at 5:35 pm

  39. Yes, his style of animal welfare concerns is reasonable: let animals have a relative stress free time while they are alive, and kill them quickly when it’s time to do so.

  40. Yes, his style of animal welfare concerns is reasonable: let animals have a relative stress free time while they are alive, and kill them quickly when it’s time to do so.

    Even the people who run the chicken factories hold to this, so it’s hardly activism.

    I’m a bit surprised by the celebrity hate being heaped on Jamie here. AFAIK he’s tried to get people to eat better via persuasion rather than coercion. As far as I’m concerned that gets him a thumbs-up.

    “Are you from a tabloid? Thank you for noticing, bitch!”

    Drop the “bitch” and it’s a perfectly reasonable retort. “Bitch” is maybe a bit harsh, but it’s hardly a hanging offence. If he’d called a guy “git” nobody would care.

    wreckage

    9 Mar 12 at 6:19 pm

  41. SfB has managed to introduce bestiality into a thread where everyone else is discussing whether Jamie Oliver is guilty of ‘celebrity hypocrisy.’

    That’s just special.

    sdog

    9 Mar 12 at 6:50 pm

  42. Judith,
    I think I read somewhere that Mr Oliver was once a chubbby child. He then followed a career in commercial food preparation. Over the years his biology has kicked in, as it has with most of us over 30 or 40, such that it matters not what he eats, his shape and weight will change.
    Yes, there are individuals who resist these changes, mostly by either nibbling veg only all day, OR, excercising so much all day they can’t hold down a regular job (the really good ones have a job in the sporting industry)- yes I hear you, exception to every rule eg the rare super politician, and all those stockbrokers in the 90′s who used to run marathons.
    On the whole, by 36 yrs of age, Mr Oliver has done far more to encourage sensible dietary health amongst the general population than most of us, and so I applaud him.

    hzhousewife

    9 Mar 12 at 7:04 pm

  43. Jamie is bit of a dick but his food is brilliant. His trip across America was good. No stupid anti Americanism.

    Steve talks about bestiality.

    Get therapy you sick c**t.

    .

    9 Mar 12 at 7:17 pm

  44. I think it’s ironic that he’s on a mission to save kids from obesity

    It is instructive. As I wrote on my blog yesterday regarding fasting, dementia, and cancer, if we keep placing reinforcers to eat in front of us what do you think we will do? So cooking programs, despite their claims, are doing the one thing we shouldn’t be doing: promoting eating. Choosing times not to eat is just as important. No other than Mattson is now conducting trials on elderly humans re cognitive preservation. He is pioneer in the field, read his work a decade ago, wait another 10 years and rest may catch up.

    John H.

    9 Mar 12 at 7:22 pm

  45. PAGING JOHN H

    http://jackkruse.com/my-leptin-prescription/

    I was a bit WTF, goes against what I know about physical fitness training and sports science. I guess it’s all a matter of tradeoffs.

    .

    9 Mar 12 at 7:25 pm

  46. Remember his first achingly lame series where they tried oh-so-hard to make him look hip with his crappy Vespa and sliding down the bannister of his trendy London pad every. Fucking. Episode. Why don’t you just walk down the stairs, you colossal twat?

    God, it was atrocious.

    Add to the fact that he’s a third rate chef. Gordon Ramsey deserves his reputation as a c-bomb, but he’s dead right about Jamie Oliver.

    Oh come on

    9 Mar 12 at 7:36 pm

  47. I remember at school, they implemented this project, where the canteen/subsidised what they called “The Executive Lunch”. It consisted of a plentiful multigrain salad sandwich, two pieces of fruit, and a carton of milk. From memory, it was by far the most popular lunch choice. I haven’t followed up the life outcomes of the “Executive Lunch” revolutionaries, compared to the conservatives, who stayed with ‘two cream buns, a pineapple donut, a can of coke, a couple of ciggies down the back fence, and a mogadon crushed up in Blackberry Nip” before heading off to Maths after lunch.

    Peter Patton

    9 Mar 12 at 7:37 pm

  48. Don’t know DOT, leptin resistance is a new kid on the block and fructose may be a major player here. Mattson has found the ghrelin, which stimulates appetite, also promotes neurogenesis. Leptin released upon eating to restrain appetite and may promote inflammation. So perhaps there is a fancy way to reduce leptin resistance but there is not one reference to any literature on that page, I suspect because the doctor is making educated guesses.

    John H.

    9 Mar 12 at 7:38 pm

  49. The best TV chefs are Floyd, Nairn, Stein and Ramsey.

    .

    9 Mar 12 at 7:39 pm

  50. Thanks illustrious researcher.

    .

    9 Mar 12 at 7:40 pm

  51. The series by the two chefs who first employed Oliver at, I think, the River Cafe, is excellent. A British lady and an American lady, one of whom has sadly passed away.

    I also quite enjoy Hugh Fearnsley-Whittingstall’s writings and series. Think that’s his name. Anyway he worked for those gals as well but quit because he realized he was better as a gourmand and food journo than a line chef. His book, Meat, is tops.

    Abu Chowdah

    9 Mar 12 at 7:40 pm

  52. How can I forget the insane and brilliant Heston Blumenthal?

    .

    9 Mar 12 at 7:41 pm

  53. Floyd was fun. Loved that episode where he cooked and ate whale, the old shit stirrer.

    Abu Chowdah

    9 Mar 12 at 7:41 pm

  54. I remember Jamie doing a bacon, egg, sausage and potato fry-up in an early show. (Just the thing after a big night, yeah?)

    Next thing he’s claiming todays children will be the first generation to live a shorter life span than their parents’.

    Tosser.

    Will Kane

    9 Mar 12 at 7:41 pm

  55. Bullshit. The best chefs eva were Two Fat Ladies

    http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/dvd/aplus/TFL_large6.jpg

    Peter Patton

    9 Mar 12 at 7:42 pm

  56. Antonio Carluccio’s early series were superb. He had sone shows where he just cooked with no commentary. They were mesmeric and the food looked orgasmically hearty and fatty.

    Abu Chowdah

    9 Mar 12 at 7:43 pm

  57. Oliver is worth over a 100 million quid. Not a bad little earner the cook book racket.

    Infidel Tiger

    9 Mar 12 at 7:43 pm

  58. I thought Antonio Carluccio was a laugh, even though he mostly wasn’t trying to be funny:

    “just add a dash of olive oil” (whilst emptying half the bottle into the pan)

    Oh come on

    9 Mar 12 at 7:44 pm

  59. The best cooking show is Anthony Bourdain interacting with Ted Nugent.

    Infidel Tiger

    9 Mar 12 at 7:44 pm

  60. Floyd was fun. Loved that episode where he cooked and ate whale, the old shit stirrer.

    What do Orca, Grey Nurse Shark, Dolphin and baby Fur Seals taste like?

    .

    9 Mar 12 at 7:45 pm

  61. Rick Stein comes across as a bit of a tosser, but I quite enjoyed what I saw of his shows…and his seafood recipes looked good, too.

    Oh come on

    9 Mar 12 at 7:46 pm

  62. OCO,

    Everyone knows “dash” is chef parlance for “one pint”.

    .

    9 Mar 12 at 7:46 pm

  63. How can I forget the insane and brilliant Heston Blumenthal?

    I think he’s touring here again later in the year – he is an inspired showman, history/food/theatre/bonhomie -
    to die for

    hzhousewife

    9 Mar 12 at 7:47 pm

  64. I like bourdain A lot. Have read all his stuff including the fiction. His show on New York makes me want to eat a steak at that classic joint. A rib eye the size of a Corgi.

    Abu Chowdah

    9 Mar 12 at 7:47 pm

  65. Hang on. The best TV chef is undoubtedly Paula Deen. This is classic shit:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMRHGW_K-M8

    Oh come on

    9 Mar 12 at 7:48 pm

  66. For a liberal New Yorker Bourdain is very endearing. His books are great.

    He really hates vegetarians.

    Infidel Tiger

    9 Mar 12 at 7:48 pm

  67. Dot, the rule with meat is that if it tastes like chicken but smells like tuna, then its safe to eat straight from the box.

    Abu Chowdah

    9 Mar 12 at 7:48 pm

  68. Damn, where’s the unedited clip of Paula Deen and her pal eating that donut burger? It’s funnier…

    Oh come on

    9 Mar 12 at 7:52 pm

  69. For those that like what’s her name, the lusty UK wench, there is also Helen Calder, from Canada.

    I’d much rather watch Bourdain in the slums of Cambodia than some hammy diva preparing food that looks boring.

    Abu Chowdah

    9 Mar 12 at 7:57 pm

  70. Abu

    Were you singing that tune during Nigella’s first season, before she became a vaudeville fat slag? ;)

    Peter Patton

    9 Mar 12 at 7:59 pm

  71. Everyone knows “dash” is chef parlance for “one pint”.

    Maybe, but Carluccio has a thing for olive oil. Big, big, bigtime thing.

    Oh come on

    9 Mar 12 at 8:02 pm

  72. some hammy diva preparing food that looks boring.

    How dare you! A donut burger, now that’s truly inspirational stuff.

    Oh come on

    9 Mar 12 at 8:05 pm

  73. I don’t watch the guy and don’t know much about him, but that response seems perfectly suitable to me. It it was me I would have also pointed out a few of the reporters faults and thrown in some cuss words.

    John Mc

    9 Mar 12 at 8:28 pm

  74. “What do Orca, Grey Nurse Shark, Dolphin and baby Fur Seals taste like?”

    They taste like chicken, .
    Trust me, I’m a nurse…

    Winston Smith

    9 Mar 12 at 9:08 pm

  75. I don’t know the bloke – couldn’t distinguish him from Bert Newton’s indulged brat or that vitally famous girl, Justin Beeeeeber. I’m not even sure what he does on TV.

    “drinks after a very long day. … brain did not … understand … question

    It’s the age of apologies, the Sorry Era, in which people say “Gees, I’m sorry. Let me qualify that with all the reasons why I’m not really responsible for whatever they say I did and don’t mean a word of it.”

    They say sorry because that’s what their media manager says they should say. In this case it’s to some bimbo reporterette who will, in time, become a media manager herself, to some mildly important star-for-a-little-while. Her CV will be founded on the time when she followed mildly important stars around, like a groupie, earnestly asking vital questions.

    On weekends she’ll do conference papers on her amazing career as a bimbo reporterette succeeding in a male dominated un-profession (even though it isn’t). On Mondays to Fridays she’ll craft clever observations for her client girlie to make on her main competition – about the big bum, scrawny neck, flabby arms and masculine singing voice.

    They do important work, these people.

    Mick Gold Coast QLD

    9 Mar 12 at 11:28 pm

  76. FFS, the foodie pretentiousness on display in thread is truly vomitous.

    Last word – depending on the guy’s height (and I’m really not that interested in finding out quite frankly) he’d be a max of 3-5 kilos ‘overweight’.

    Given the cavalcade of f*cking lardasses I have the misfortune of witnessing wobbling around this nation’s cities, I think people need to be slightly less judgemental about the wally’s weight – especially given the whole ‘pot, kettle, black’ thingy.

    Hold him in contempt/hate him because he’s a vain ignorant stupid pommie pratt – those scum who were the first to willingly sell their society down the toilet to those oh so noisome marxist excremental ideals and not just because he’s too vacuous and/or hypocritical to kick back against the pricks.

    There are few more loathsome, pitiable shitsacks on this planet than modern day drug and alcohol sozzled white pommie yoof.

    End of rant.

    Rabz

    10 Mar 12 at 1:03 am

  77. Don’t hate him because he’s a fat prick, hate ‘em because he’s a prick.

    Cory Olsen

    10 Mar 12 at 2:46 am

  78. Ha ha Rabz, go fuck yourself.

    :)

    Abu Chowdah

    10 Mar 12 at 3:00 am

  79. I could never understand why the government was feeding school kids at all. If you entrust the feeding of your kids to the government, please don’t be surprised when they are fed utter crap!

    Jamie should have been showing the parents (if the kids had two) how to make a vegemite sandwich for the little buggers and leaving it at that.

    boy on a bike

    10 Mar 12 at 6:40 am

  80. We ate well last night. The Ape ordered in two vegetarian thin-crust Pizza, and asked the astounded order taker to deliver them with extra serves of meat on top. Which they did. Go vegetarian with meat. Very tasty. Best of both worlds.

    Elizabeth (Lizzie) B.

    10 Mar 12 at 7:15 am

  81. Love it Lizzie! You must be feeling better :)

    Biota

    10 Mar 12 at 7:25 am

  82. Yeah and fuck you too, chowdah, you fucking dickhead!

    Rabz

    10 Mar 12 at 9:02 am

  83. I remember Jamie doing a bacon, egg, sausage and potato fry-up in an early show. (Just the thing after a big night, yeah?)

    Next thing he’s claiming todays children will be the first generation to live a shorter life span than their parents’.

    The only bad thing about that meal is the potatoes.

    Helen Armstrong

    10 Mar 12 at 11:42 am

  84. Yes Helen. If I remember correctly, the potatoes should have been served as a side plate, on a bread roll, hot with lots of butter, and perhaps a light dusting of pepper.

    Winston Smith

    10 Mar 12 at 11:51 am

  85. He needs to try the Dr Rudi diet. I’m on it now, it’s basically miraculous.

    Jacques Chester

    10 Mar 12 at 12:04 pm

  86. How do you deal with art wankers, Jacques?

    .

    10 Mar 12 at 12:10 pm

  87. Poorly.

    Jacques Chester

    10 Mar 12 at 2:06 pm

  88. I could never understand why the government was feeding school kids at all.

    In Britain, there is a class of school kid, whose parents SES is so low, the kids are entitled to “free school dinners”. Surely, this must stigmatise the kids terribly?

    Peter Patton

    10 Mar 12 at 2:14 pm

  89. You’ve a point, PP.
    “All you kids with functioning parents, line up to the left! All the ones who are offspring of brain dead, no ‘oper, welfare drones who spend all their money on drugs and booze, to the cafeteria!”

    Winston Smith

    10 Mar 12 at 2:34 pm

  90. Is in cut down a tall poppy day?

    TerjeP

    10 Mar 12 at 10:11 pm

  91. I can’t believe governments are giving this clown money.

    My own local MP in QLD is gushing over the fact that we get the food ministry thing first in australia, and we only had to pay millions for it. His whole thing is politically aimed.

    Its unbelievable that an MP in the one of the poorest areas is giving this guy our money to tell the people in the area not to buy cheap healthy chicken meat.

    Jamie has realised that health = $$$ through the government. Watch his early shows. He made scampled eggs with 1 pound of butter and a cup of cream and 2 eggs, yet now he claims that its been his lifelong goal and that he has always promoted proper eating and education… BS.

    mundi

    11 Mar 12 at 6:03 pm

  92. Yeah and fuck you too, chowdah, you fucking dickhead!

    There ya go, have a biccie while the adults discuss food.

    Abu Chowdah

    12 Mar 12 at 1:24 am

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