|
|
Jonathan FriedlandNetflix has fired chief communications officer Jonathan Friedland for his "descriptive use of the N-word on at least two occasions," according to a internal memo to staff from Reed Hastings, CEO of the streaming company.
Hastings wrote that use of such language "showed unacceptably low racial awareness and sensitivity, and is not in the line with our values as a company."
After the first incident, Friedland apologized, after several staffers told him how inappropriate and hurtful his use of the N-word was, according to the memo.
"We hoped this was an awful anomaly never to be repeated," wrote Hastings.
Hastings heard of the second incident last week, which "confirmed a deep lack of understanding, and convinced me to let Jonathan go now."
The CEO credited the seven-year Netflix PR vet for being a great contributor and building a diverse global team and "creating awareness for Netflix, strengthening our reputation around the world, and helping make us into the successful company we are today."
Friedland, on Twitter, admitted to being "insensitive in speaking with his team about words that offend in comedy."
He tweeted, "leaders have to be beyond reproach in the example that we set and unfortunately I fell short of that standard."
Sam Singer, the Bay Area’s go-to crisis PR guy, today celebrated his client OpenAI’s “tremendous victory” over Elon Musk.
Deepfakes have crossed a critical threshold from an emerging concern to an effective tool, where any public figure is now a target for AI-enabled reputational manipulation. Here’s what PR pros need to know.
If you’re like a lot of people, you have been obsessed with “Love Story,” the FX series that has been airing for the past eight weeks about JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette. But why didn’t Kennedy use crisis PR to deal with the paparazzi, the news media and the tabloids?
Much is made of the importance of proper planning to anticipate and manage a crisis—but what matters most is understanding how decisions will be made once the crisis is underway.
