PR exec Justine Sacco tweets racist joke on flight to Africa; outrage sparks website, Twitter hashtag

Justine Sacco, director of corporate communications for IAC, tweeted out Friday: 'Going to Africa. Hope I don't get AIDS. Just kidding. I'm white!' The outrage piled up on social media, with someone creating the website justinesacco.com and pointing it toward links to charities that benefit sub-Saharan Africa.

Justine Sacco, the chief communications director for IAC, who represents brands like OKCupid — as proudly seen on her jacket — is in hot water after tweeting out a racist joke that's getting few laughs.

It's sounding more like OK Stupid.
The communications director for media conglomerate IAC, which represents brands like OKCupid, is in trouble after publicly tweeting a racist “joke” that’s getting few — if any — laughs.
“Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white!” Justine Sacco tweeted Friday, apparently from London shortly before departing on a trip.
Sacco, whose represented brands also include Vimeo and CollegeHumor, was not immediately available for comment.
But the offending tweet disappeared late Friday night — which would be early Saturday morning in Africa. Just after midnight in New York, in fact, Sacco’s entire account vanished.

Sacco tweeted: 'Going to Africa. Hope I don't get AIDS. Just kidding. I'm white!' 

But it might be too little, too late, judging by a statement IAC sent earlier to the Daily News.
“This is an outrageous, offensive comment that does not reflect the views and values of IAC,” said the company, which is operated by billionaire media executive Barry Diller. Noting it had been unable to reach the in-flight “employee in question,” the statement continued, “This is a very serious matter and we are taking appropriate action.”

Meanwhile, outrage over what many dubbed “worst tweet of the year” piled up, with one vengeful Twitter user publishing Sacco’s cell phone number online.
“She gon get that message I left,” Twitter user illmami wrote.

After Sacco's tweet, someone created a website justinesacco.com, linking a coalition of charities that benefit sub-Saharan Africa.

Another wrote, “Listen, homegirl is about to be FIRED.”

Sacco's tweet also inspired the Twitter hashtag #HasJustineLandedYet, with users mocking her controversial tweet and speculating what would happen when her flight landed.
"Sometimes you land with more baggage than you took off with," user LAmaleCA tweeted.
Someone even created a website — justinesacco.com — that links to a coalition of charities that benefit sub-Saharan Africa.

IAC, operated by media billionaire Barry Diller, reacted by calling her tweet 'outrageous' and 'offensive.'

Though it’s possible Sacco was the victim of malicious hackers, her past tweets make that scenario seem less likely.
“I like animals, but when it’s this cold out I’ll skin one myself for the fur,” she once tweeted to the animal rights group PETA.

 

source: nydailynews