Forgive Justine Sacco: Let The PR Pro Move On…
It has been almost two years since Justine Sacco famously sent a terrible, hateful tweet as she was jumping on a plane for the second leg of her journey to enjoy the holidays with family in South Africa.
What Sacco said, was taken literally and by the time her plane landed in South Africa, she had been vilified in the press and on Twitter, as well as losing her job. Imagine the shock of ending a long flight arriving for a vacation only to be greeted at the airport by people there to take her picture so they could post her arrival on Twitter. Building celebrity while denouncing her as a horrible person.
While facing that situation, Sacco received hateful tweets as she trended #1 worldwide and lost her job in the process. She deserved to be fired. Yet, at some point, enough is enough, and we think that time has come. The vitriolic posts and hateful messages, added to by many people wanting to jump on the wagon over her one statement is enough now.
She should have a right to make a living in PR – and her past should not be an issue when she acts as PR spokesperson in her new job with DraftKings, an online sports gambling site. DraftKings and FanDuel are under insider trading investigation after rumors hit that employees of the sites used knowledge they gained as employees to place bets on the opposing site – and Sacco is a skilled PR pro who has experience managing communications for countless brands. Let Sacco work – and do not make her part of the story. Its time to let her move on.
It’s time to take the PR personality issue out of it and allow the woman to have a life. It’s time to accept her apology and know she has paid dearly for the off-hand remark.
Here is her apology again: “Words cannot express how sorry I am, and how necessary it is for me to apologize to the people of South Africa, who I have offended due to a needless and careless tweet. There is an AIDS crisis taking place in this country, that we read about in America, but do not live with or face on a continuous basis. Unfortunately, it is terribly easy to be cavalier about an epidemic that one has never witnessed firsthand.
For being insensitive to this crisis — which does not discriminate by race, gender or sexual orientation, but which terrifies us all uniformly — and to the millions of people living with the virus, I am ashamed. This is my father’s country, and I was born here. I cherish my ties to South Africa and my frequent visits, but I am in anguish knowing that my remarks have caused pain to so many people here; my family, friends and fellow South Africans. I am very sorry for the pain I caused.”
It is time to give Justine Sacco a second chance – the time is now. Let her move on and continue her work in Public Relations. America is all about second chances – this is that time for Justine Sacco.
