The U.S. hunting influencer at the center of the #WombatGate mess issued an apology — but it fell on deaf ears when she went off on the Australian government, calling them hypocrites for letting thousands of animals get killed every year.
Samantha Strable — AKA Sam Jones on IG — left the hosts of Australia’s Channel 10 fuming when she bailed on a scheduled interview. Instead, she sent them a pre-recorded video statement, in which she said she regretted pulling the baby wombat away from its mother in the original video last week.
3/12/25
After briefly owning up to her actions, Sam directed people’s attention to the government of the nation widely condemning her, claiming officials are funneling millions of Aussie tax dollars into the mass slaughter of native animals.
She slammed the hypocrisy as staggering, saying that while she regrets what she did on video, she refuses to be a scapegoat for a “far greater, far more uncomfortable reality.”
Her apology didn’t sit well with the hosts at all — they called it pathetic and vented it was cowardly to point fingers at the Australian government while hiding behind a pre-recorded video instead of facing them live.
FWIW, Sam’s not entirely off the mark — wombats are a protected species in Australia, but permits can still be granted to cull them if necessary.
