Millionaire pub owners back down after sparking outrage by calling young workers 'whiny' and 'self-entitled' - but insist they are right about cancel culture and millennials being 'offended by everything'

Two millionaire bar owners have been forced to apologise after their description of young workers as 'whining' and 'self-entitled' sparked a huge backlash from their own staff and industry leaders.

Jake Smyth and Kenny Graham lashed out at millennials in their podcast The Fat and said work-life balance was 'one of the most dangerous terms young people have been introduced to'.

The brains behind Mary's Group - which owns Sydney's Lansdowne and Unicorn hotels - claimed the industry over-corrected from the 'bad old days' where bar and kitchen staff would be screamed at by their managers.

The businessmen admitted on Monday their comments angered many of their own staff - although they defended their right to criticise Australia's 'toxic' cancel culture.

Millionaire bar owners Jake Smyth and Kenny Graham have apologised after saying it was almost impossible to run a business now without causing offense

'They were aimed at a collection of stories and comments that we hear on a weekly basis from our staff, managers, chefs and other restaurant owners about a small minority of people across multiple industries,' the pair said in a statement released on the Mary's Group website.

'To be clear, our staff are the reason that Mary's has come to be what it is. Its strength is them, its purpose is them, and we love them all deeply.'

The outspoken owners said they had not intended to so publicly shame their own staff.

'There are some staff who agree with our comments, there are others who have been deeply hurt by them,' they said. 

'To those hurt, we apologise for what has been framed to be a public shaming. This is not what was intended.'

In the same breath, though, Mr Smyth and Mr Graham hit out at those who tried to shut down their attempts to voice their thoughts on the hospitality industry.

 Hospitality gurus Kenny Graham and Jake Smyth said they believed many young workers in the industry today don't have same work ethic which has seen them succeed

'We firmly believe that we have earned a right to speak about our very non-entitled experience within our industry,' they said.

'The cancel culture and shaming that surrounds any difficult conversation is toxic and must be met head on.'

The Australian Council of Trade Unions was among those to hit back during a wave of backlash towards last week's comments. 

'In an industry rife with wage theft, insecure work and exploitation, apparently it's the workers who are entitled,' the union wrote on Twitter.  

The founders of the Mary's Group who own Sydney's iconic Lansdowne Hotel called on young hospitality workers to use their downtime and days off more wisely

In their podcast, Mr Smyth, who began working at McDonald's the age of 14, said the industry had over-corrected from the 'bad old days' where managers would scream at kitchen and bar staff.

He said the treatment of younger staff in the last few decades had left workers without perspective and in need of a reality check. 

'It's almost impossible to run a business now without offending somebody. It's almost impossible to run a life without f**king offending somebody,' Mr Smyth said, according to the Sun Herald. 

'You're seeing it so clearly with this cancel culture behaviour, which seems to be getting some sort of push-back now, thank f**k. I think COVID has given some perspective to life, to a degree.'

The businessmen are behind Mary's Group (company's food pictured) - which owns Sydney's iconic Lansdowne and Unicorn hotels

He and Mr Graham stressed that only a small minority of their employees were 'self-entitled little f**ks', adding the vast majority were 'hard-working beasts'.

The pair also claimed the emphasis of having a work-life balance had also contributed to the problem and given employees a false idea of what it entails.

'The luxury that I got given as a kid was you can choose what you want to be. That was the thing my parents and my grandparents fought to give me. I thought the whole idea was trying to find a f**king job that you loved, and that's your work-life balance,' Mr Smyth added.

The pair encouraged young hospitality staff to use their downtime and days off more wisely rather than 'getting hammered' and glued to their phones and on social media.

Jake Smyth and Kenny Graham also run Sydney's popular Unicorn Hotel

'On your days off, just actually put your f**king phone down,' Mr Smyth pleaded.

'Don't respond to the message on the WhatsApp group, and don't check your emails. Stay off Instagram. Actually treat your two days like you're on holiday.'

Mr Smyth stands by his comments on the podcast and believes employees use mental health as an excuse too often.

'It's just this slippery slope of scapegoating your own mental health responsibilities. It shows up in poor work ethic, lateness, too much drinking, poor performance at work in general,' he told the Sun Herald. 

He also believes the importance of hard work has also been lost.

'There seems to have been an explosion of laying the blame for your own lack of ambition or inability to disconnect from social media on work, as opposed to calling it for what it is, which is you not taking f**king responsibility for your own agency and own position in life,' Mr Smyth added.