This afternoon on Twitter, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick condemned comments made by Senior Vice President Emil Michael suggesting that the ride-sharing giant should consider hiring opposition researchers to dig up dirt on journalists who've previously criticized the company.
Michael's comments, first reported by BuzzFeed News, included the prospect of looking into details of the personal lives of specific journalists without their knowledge. While Michael issued a public statement calling his remarks "wrong no matter the circumstance," Uber's outspoken CEO has been silent. Until now.
In an 13-tweet Twitterstorm, Kalanick decried Michael's remarks, saying that they showed "a lack of humanity." While there was no official apology, Kalanick suggested that Uber should "tell the stories of progress and appeal to people's hearts and minds," noting that the company will focus on regaining user trust.
"I will do everything in my power toward the goal of earning that trust," he tweeted.
However, Kalanick failed to address the portion of the story that reports that Josh Mohrer, the Uber New York general manager, accessed BuzzFeed News reporter Johana Bhuiyan's Uber account without her permission. This is a clear violation of the company's policy on accessing the personal information of journalists' accounts, according to head of Uber communications Nairi Hourdajian.
Here is the full official Twitterstorm:
1/ Emil's comments at the recent dinner party were terrible and do not represent the company.
2/ His remarks showed a lack of leadership, a lack of humanity, and a departure from our values and ideals
3/ His duties here at Uber do not involve communications strategy or plans and are not representative in any way of the company approach
4/ Instead, we should lead by inspiring our riders, our drivers and the public at large.
5/ We should tell the stories of progress and appeal to people’s hearts and minds
6/ We must be open and vulnerable enough to show people the positive principles that are the core of Uber’s culture
7/ We must tell the stories of progress Uber has brought to cities and show the our constituents that we are principled and mean well
8/ The burden is on us to show that, and until Emil’s comments we felt we were making positive steps along those lines
9/ But I will personally commit to our riders, partners and the public that we are up to the challenge
10/ We are up to the challenge to show that Uber is and will continue to be a positive member of the community
11/ And furthermore, I will do everything in my power towards the goal of earning that trust.
More tweets from Kalanick, including an apology to PandoDaily's Sarah Lacy:
12/ I believe that folks who make mistakes can learn from them – myself included.
13/ and that also goes for Emil ..
13/ and last, I want to apologize to @sarahcuda