Jason Momoa’s Apple TV+ series Chief Of War sparks anger after filming ‘shuts down farmer’s market in Hawaii for two weeks during holiday season’
- An upcoming Apple TV+ series starring and co-created by Jason Momoa has sparked outrage after vendors at a farmer’s market learned production would be shutting down the market for two weeks during the holidays
- Vendors at the Kaimu Farmer’s Market in Hawaii expressed their displeasure after learning the Momoa led show, Chief of War, would be taking over the lot the market is normally held at for the next two Saturdays
- The Kaimu Farmer’s Market is held every Saturday
- DailyMail.com has contacted representatives for Momoa and the farmer’s market for comment
An upcoming Apple TV+ series starring and co-created by Jason Momoa has sparked anger after vendors at a farmer’s market learned production would be shutting down the market for two weeks during the holidays.
Vendors at the Kaimu Farmer’s Market on Hawaii’s Big Island expressed their displeasure after learning the Momoa led show, Chief of War, would be taking over the lot the market is normally held at for the next two Saturdays. The Kaimu Farmer’s Market is held every Saturday.
After the market announced that production had shut down the market December 3 and 10, vendors slammed Momoa, 43, and the film crew for taking away business during ‘peak buying season.’
Outrage: An upcoming Apple TV+ series starring and co-created by Jason Momoa has sparked outrage from vendors at a farmer’s market in Hawaii after production allegedly shut down the market for two weeks during the holidays; pictured August 2022
DailyMail.com has contacted representatives for Momoa and the farmer’s market for comment.
Momoa not only stars in the limited series, but also serves as writer and executive producer, according to Deadline. He created the series, set to tell the history of Hawaii from an indigenous perspective, with Thomas Pa’a Sibbett.
Announcing the closure on Facebook on Halloween, the market posted: ‘The movie crew has requested our market area for another Saturday so we will be closed now for 2 weeks in December, the 3rd and the 10th.’
Needless to say, vendors were unhappy with the news.
Breaking the news: The farmer’s market announced the closure on their Facebook page last month
‘Thank Jason for taking away our lively hood during the busiest time of the year,’ wrote one Facebook user.
‘there’s no way that it does not affect the bottom dollar of our pocket book. Maybe it’ll make the market place more famous for the future though. Two weekends during peak buying season is a tough one. I have great appreciation for the community vibe as it’s also my community and to spend it in a different one is sad,’ wrote another Facebook user.
‘These are your big Hollyweird sellouts. No surprise. They’re making A LOT of money. Too bad they don’t compensate those little people who lose money, who now can’t feed their families or pay their bills or get their kids presents around Xmas due to this. But like I said, no surprise! At least we’re given some notice and can try to sell more on the alternate weekends,’ another posted.
Not happy: Vendors expressed their displeasure with the news in the comments section
Another raised how the shut down would result in ‘a lot of lost income’ as they suggested holding the market in a different location.
‘That’s a lot of lost income for Puna folks, especially so close to the holidays. Do you think we could hold market in another location?’ one wrote.
One Facebook user suggested selling directly to the filming crew during the closure.
‘Has anyone reached out to Production? They have many, many people to feed all day, every day for a couple of weeks while they’re at the location. Has anyone considered the farmers selling directly to production those two weeks? It may curb the losses they’d otherwise suffer.’
Taking over: The film crew will be shutting down the market for the next two Saturdays, days the market is normally held on
Speaking with TMZ, the manager of the farmer’s market claimed would not be compensating the market of vendors for the closure.
‘We have not been in conversation with them at all as they are leasing the property from the property managers just as we lease the property for the Saturday market. We were told about 6 weeks ago that the property manager was not allowing us to hold the market on the 3rd of December and about 3 weeks ago informed us that we would not be using the property for the 3rd or the 10th. We were not given a choice.’
‘It hits us farmer’s the worst because we now have no venue to sell eggs, for instance. The chickens keep laying whether we have a market or not,’ they continued.
Coming soon: Momoa not only stars in the series, but also serves as writer and executive producer, according to Deadline . He created the series, set to tell the history of Hawaii from an indigenous perspective, with Thomas Pa’a Sibbett; pictured arriving to Jimmy Kimmel Live earlier this month