Justine Sacco started trending on Twitter on Dec. 20, but for all the wrong reasons. The communications director for the media conglomerate IAC, which handles brands like OK Cupid and Tinder, is in the center of the latest Twitter storm after sending out an extremely offensive, extremely racist tweet on her way to Africa.
Justine Sacco’s Racist Tweet
Just before her flight took to South Africa took off, Justine tweeted, “Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white!” Not only has the tweet been taken down since, but Justine’s entire Twitter account has been deleted.
And that’s because the PR exec’s ignorant tweet quickly made waves on Twitter — the tweet was re-tweeted over 3,000 times and as users waited for Justine’s followup tweet, the hashtag “#HasJustineLandedYet” became a #1 worldwide trendon the social media site. But besides erasing the tweet and deleting her account (she went from having 400 followers to over 8,000 after the tweet), there has been no response from Justine.
Justine Sacco’s Company Calls Her ‘Outrageous’ & ‘Offensive’
Instead, her company, IAC, has had to pick up the pieces. They released a statement saying:
This is an outrageous, offensive comment that does not reflect the views and values of IAC.
Unfortunately, the employee in question is unreachable on an international flight, but this is a very serious matter and we are taking appropriate action.
We can’t say for sure, but we’re going to go ahead and interpret “appropriate action” to mean “Justine’s getting fired,” for what is being called “The Worst Tweet of the Year.”
Some of Justine’s past tweets include gems like, “I had a sex dream about an autistic kid last night. #fml,” so it’s clear this isn’t her first foray into being offensive and inappropriate.
So FroshLifers, do you think IAC should fire Justine for her tweet? Let us know!
