A PR executive for a major media company who Tweeted a racist 'joke' on Friday that sparked a social media revolt was unaware she had become front page news because she posted the message while boarding a long-haul flight.
Justine Sacco - the Communications Director for IAC, a parent company for Vimeo, OkCupid, Tinder, CollegeHumor, and Dictionary.com - was flying to Cape Town when she Tweeted: 'Going to Africa. Hope I don't get AIDS. Just Kidding. I'm White!'
The post had been retweeted over 3000 times and was picked up by news sites around the world by the time Sacco landed in Africa.
Blasted for being 'outrageous' and 'inappropriate', with titles like 'Worst Tweet of the Year' stacking up against her, Sacco promptly deleted the Tweet, with her entire Twitter account soon vanishing as well.
But the damage had been done, and IAC were forced to comment on Sacco's behalf.
'This is an outrageous, offensive comment that does not reflect the views and values of IAC. Unfortunately, the employee in question is unreachable on an international flight, but this is a very serious matter and we are taking appropriate action,' a representative from IAC told the International Business Times.
Sacco landed in Africa on British Airways Flight 43 and one can only guess the number of angry responses she'll receive.
One man, Zac R, Tweeted that he went to the airport specifically to see her and took photos of her arrivial.
The Cape Town local also claimed to have spoken to Sacco's father, who is South African.
#hasjustinelandedyet was trending on Twitter at the time as thousands awaited her response.
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