As BuzzFeed first reported Monday, Uber vice president Emil Michael said at a dinner in New York on Saturday that he wanted to spend $1 million to hire a team to research and fight back against journalists who have written negative stories about Uber. They could do this, he said, by investigating journalists' personal lives and families, BuzzFeed reported.
Michael specifically criticized one journalist -- Sarah Lacy, the editor-in-chief of tech site Pando Daily, according to BuzzFeed. Lacy recently wrote a column calling out Uber for sexism and said she had deleted the app from her phone. At the dinner, according to BuzzFeed, Michael "said that he thought Lacy should be held 'personally responsible' for any woman who followed her lead in deleting Uber and was then sexually assaulted."
The dinner was hosted by Ian Osborne, a former advisor to U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron, who serves as a consultant to Uber. According to BuzzFeed, actor Edward Norton, Arianna Huffington, and USA Today columnist Michael Wolff were in attendance.
In a series of tweets on Tuesday afternoon, Kalanick said he was sorry. "Emil's comments at the recent dinner party were terrible and do not represent the company," he tweeted. The comments "were a departure from our values and ideals." Kalanick promised that the company would do better at communicating "positive stories" to the public — for one, by sharing inspiring stories about their drivers.
"I believe that folks who make mistakes can learn from them -- myself included," Kalanick tweeted.
In his 13th tweet he apologized to Lacy: "13/ and last, I want to apologize to @sarahcuda"
Kalanick's tweets follow a personal apology from Michael and a statement from Uber emphasizing that they had no policy of retaliation toward journalists. "We have not, do not and will not investigate journalists. Those remarks have no basis in the reality of our approach," the company said.
The BuzzFeed story set-off a storm of criticism earlier in the day with some journalists calling on people to delete their Uber Apps.
Sarah Lacy published a lengthy response on Pando Daily calling for serious action from Uber. Lacy said she was reaching out to the company's 30 investors to get them to pressure Kalanick to action. In a separate interview with re/code, Lacy said that Michael should be fired.
Michael put out a public statement of apology on Monday:
The remarks attributed to me at a private dinner – borne out of frustration during an informal debate over what I feel is sensationalistic media coverage of the company I am proud to work for – do not reflect my actual views and have no relation to the company’s views or approach. They were wrong no matter the circumstance and I regret them.
You can read all of Kalanick's tweets below:
1/ Emil's comments at the recent dinner party were terrible and do not represent the company.
— travis kalanick (@travisk) November 18, 20142/ His remarks showed a lack of leadership, a lack of humanity, and a departure from our values and ideals
— travis kalanick (@travisk) November 18, 20143/ His duties here at Uber do not involve communications strategy or plans and are not representative in any way of the company approach
— travis kalanick (@travisk) November 18, 20144/ Instead, we should lead by inspiring our riders, our drivers and the public at large.
— travis kalanick (@travisk) November 18, 20145/ We should tell the stories of progress and appeal to people’s hearts and minds
— travis kalanick (@travisk) November 18, 20146/ We must be open and vulnerable enough to show people the positive principles that are the core of Uber’s culture
— travis kalanick (@travisk) November 18, 20147/ We must tell the stories of progress Uber has brought to cities and show the our constituents that we are principled and mean well
— travis kalanick (@travisk) November 18, 20148/ The burden is on us to show that, and until Emil’s comments we felt we were making positive steps along those lines
— travis kalanick (@travisk) November 18, 20149/ But I will personally commit to our riders, partners and the public that we are up to the challenge
— travis kalanick (@travisk) November 18, 201410/ We are up to the challenge to show that Uber is and will continue to be a positive member of the community
— travis kalanick (@travisk) November 18, 201411/ And furthermore, I will do everything in my power towards the goal of earning that trust.
— travis kalanick (@travisk) November 18, 201412/ I believe that folks who make mistakes can learn from them – myself included.
— travis kalanick (@travisk) November 18, 201413/ and that also goes for Emil ..
— travis kalanick (@travisk) November 18, 201413/ and last, I want to apologize to @sarahcuda
— travis kalanick (@travisk) November 18, 2014Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/18/uber-ceo_n_6180088.html?utm_hp_ref=travel&ir=Travel and provided by entertainment-movie-news.com
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