Somethings are just better left unsaid… and more specifically, many things are better left offline!
Justine Sacco, a director of communications for InterActiveCorp (IAC) (whose holdings include television production company Electus, dating sites Match.com and OKCupid, and the video site Vimeo) may have learned that lesson the hard way after posting what many have referred to as the ‘dumbest and most offensive tweet’ of 2013.
Details about Sacco’s ‘insensitive’ statement below…
As Sacco boarded a flight from London to Africa, the PR director sent a racist tweet about her trip, stating, ?Going to Africa. Hope I don?t get AIDS. Just kidding. I?m white.?
The tweet was deleted hours later and Sacco’s Twitter account had totally disappeared by Friday night. However, her tweet had already been viewed by thousands, sparking a worldwide trending topic on the popular social networking site with the hashtag #HasJustineLandedYet.
Many online users were outraged over Sacco’s insensitivity and anticipating what life would be like for her after the plane landed.
IAC subsequently released a statement regarding the tweet saying, ?This is an outrageous, offensive comment that does not reflect the views and values of IAC,?? but the company failed to mention how (or if) Sacco would be punished.
*** Update: December 21, 2013 – 5:12pm: Sacco has been sacked!
According to CNN, IAC has terminated the employment of Justine Sacco, its now former corporate communications staffer at the center of controversy over a tweet that the company viewed as ?offensive.? The company released a statement that said that despite the controversial tweet, it had ?otherwise known [Sacco] to be a decent person at core.?
IAC?s statement:
?The offensive comment does not reflect the views and values of IAC. We take this issue very seriously, and we have parted ways with the employee in question.
There is no excuse for the hateful statements that have been made and we condemn them unequivocally. We hope, however, that time and action, and the forgiving human spirit, will not result in the wholesale condemnation of an individual who we have otherwise known to be a decent person at core.?
For the record, the LATimes reports that this isn’t the first time Sacco has faced criticism over her online rants.
This isn’t the first time Sacco tweeted something that is inappropriate and questionable for someone working in such a high-profile position.
Last year she tweeted about having a dream involving sex with someone with autism.
Sacco’s account has now been deleted, but her twitter fail is now a part of online history.