Joe Hachem In Smoking Controversy

Joe Hachem was at the centre of an online backlash this week after posting a photo on his twitter account appearing to show a baby with a  traditional smoking pipe in its mouth.
In 2005, the Australian poker pro took down the WSOP Main Event for a massive $7.5 million and has since gone on to become a role model in the game. Last year, the 45 year-old parted ways with his sponsored site PokerStars and is now an official ambassador for the Asian Poker Tour (APT). Nevertheless, Hachem’s latest bit of humour didn’t go down well with his 18,500 twitter followers after he posted the startling photo with the comment; “Go blues, shisha for all, can never be too young.”
The Aussie star was born in Lebanon in 1966 and moved to Melbourne aged six. The shisha Hachem mentions refers to a Hookah, or waterpipe popular smoked in the Middle East. However, Hachem soon came under a barrage of furious condemnation from outraged people with the Australian Childhood Foundation quickly weighing in on the photo. As spokesman for the group, Joe Tucci explains:
“I don’t think that anybody in that photo intended to harm that child, but inadvertently they have put that child in some sort of danger. This photo minimises the rights of a child.”
After being flooded by a further deluge of compaints about the photo, Joe Hachem still apparently failed to see what all the fuss was about and tweeted; “Take a chill pill man as if it’s real, geez so uptight.”
However, the controversy didn’t seem to subside and a little later Hachem removed the photo and issued a full retraction stating: “If my shiaha (sic) tweet from Saturday has offended anyone I sincerely apologise. It was not my intention to offend anyone let alone condone underage smoking. I never have and never would do that intentionally. Once again my sincere apologies.”