Racist AIDS tweet 'joke' causes outrage

Vox Populi Vox Dei

High Tory
Joined
Mar 6, 2004
Messages
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Location
Cape Town
'Going to Africa. Hope I don't get AIDS. Just kidding. I'm white.'

The internet - forever exposing idiots the world over.

Justine Sacco has landed — and as a first order of business, the spokeswoman for Barry Diller’s company IAC deleted the tweet that got her in very hot water as she was taking off from London to Cape Town, South Africa.

Moments later, she deleted her account (which had ballooned from some 400 followers to more than 8,000) outright.

But by then, its a matter of public record:

sacco.tweet_.png

And the storm had long since begun.

Sacco’s tweet provoked anger from the social media mob, which closely tracked her long flight and made #HasJustineLandedYet the No. 1 non-promoted hashtag on Twitter while she was en route. It also raised the ire of her employer, which responded to TheWrap’s request for comment with the following statement Friday:

“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.”

IAC owns and operates myriad digital businesses, from Ben Silverman’s production company Electus to video sites Vimeo and CollegeHumor. Sacco has worked there for more than two years, joining from the WWE.

During the hours Sacco was on her flight, the Internet pounced — with everything from LOLcats-style images:

justine.sacco_.meme_.jpg

to tweets referencing Duck Dynasty, which had its own open-mouth-insert-foot moment this week. One relief organization — Aid for Africa — snapped up the domain name justinesacco.com, and had it redirect to their site while she was still in the air.

Even Buzzfeed piled on, creating a post of 16 Tweets Justine Sacco regrets

http://www.thewrap.com/justine-sacco-deletes-hope-dont-get-aids-tweet-landing-cape-town/
 
So in her mind mind black-AIDS and being white makes her immune from AIDS. #Speechless
 
Kinda feel sorry for her, one thoughtless comment has probably ruined her career for good. Poor lass.
 
I guess her PR career is going to take a dive...


Why does our country attract so many idiots off late.... is it because we also have one running the show...:wtf:
 
I hope she doesn't get stabbed and raped by an HIV positive black man. Just saying.
 
She clearly must have not a shred of common sense in her. How can you post something so offensive and think its a joke?

I'm not worried about it being racist, just how offensive and stupid this tweet is.

I have to agree with Common_effect; this is also why I stay off Facebook and Twitter (on Twitter I don't even view SA Trends).

The only good that comes from the internet is dumbasses like this woman get exposed!
 
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And that is why I don't post on Facebook, Twitter or any other social media of that type.
You bunch of mullets don't count.
Kill whitey! :whistle:

Im not worried about social media. Its a very useful and powerful tool thats not going away. However, if someone cant control themself and what they say on social media, then its probably not a good idea for them to be using it.
 
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