John Demsey, a senior executive at makeup company Estée lauder, was given the boot for posting an offensive meme on his Instagram account.
According to several outlets, the post in question mocked St. Louis rapper Chingy and used the words “My n*gga.” Demsey, who has been with Estée Lauder for approximately 30 years, will reportedly leave his role this week. A replacement has not yet been named, but according to CNN, the makeup company has spoken out about the “widespread offense” Demsey caused.
“This decision is the result of his recent Instagram posts, which do not reflect the values of The Estée Lauder Companies, have caused widespread offense, are damaging to our efforts to drive inclusivity both inside and outside our walls, and do not reflect the judgment we expect of our leaders. Our employees, and especially our senior leaders, are accountable to continue driving our progress and to respect the values of this company for the long term,” Estée Lauder said in its statement on Monday (Feb. 28).
As the tweet above mentions, Dempsey has apologized — sort of — claiming that he “carelessly” reposted “a racist meme without reading it beforehand.”
“Not only did I hurt many people whom I respect, the terrible mistake that I made has undermined everything I have been working for since I began my career 31 years ago,” he said via Instagram. “The meme is the furthest thing from what I stand for and I should have never reposted it.”
“I hope that in time people will judge me, not for this awful mistake, but for my lifetime of words and actions, which demonstrate my respect for all people,” Demsey went on. See his full apology below.
Chingy has since responded, saying that he thinks it was an “honest mistake” and personally did not take offense to Demsey’s post. See what the St. Louis rapper had to say about the whole ordeal here.