IAC Confirms Firing of PR Exec Justine Sacco

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By Adario Strange2013-12-21 23:32:17 UTC

Internet company IAC has fired Justine Sacco, its senior director of corporate communications, after she posted an offensive tweet on Friday night

“The offensive comment does not reflect the views and values of IAC,” a company spokesperson told Mashable on Saturday. “We take this issue very seriously, and we have parted ways with the employee in question.”

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Published just before her flight to South Africa, Sacco’s tweet ignited a firestorm of angry criticism online.

Sacco’s apparent lack of Internet access provided ample time for Twitter users to air their grievances, as #HasJustineLandedYet trended on the microblogging network on Friday and Saturday. Multiple media organizations also picked up the story.

At least one major inflight Wi-Fi provider even took the opportunity use the event for marketing purposes, but later apologized for the move.

Upon landing in South Africa, Sacco’s Twitter account was suddenly deleted, but one local Twitter user who traveled to Cape Town International Airport managed to photograph her arrival, and posted the image to Twitter.

Listed as the official IAC contact on a press release sent out as recently as Thursday, Sacco has yet to publicly address the situation that led to her firing.

“There is no excuse for the hateful statements that have been made and we condemn them unequivocally,” IAC said in its statement.

“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.”

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Image: Facebook, Justine Sacco

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