The old saying goes “there is no much thing as bad publicity,” but in the case of Uber, that may not be true. Gizmodo reported on a shocking exposé written by Buzzfeed earlier this week detailing how an Uber executive insinuated that the company might be planning on terrorizing private citizens, namely journalists, who write negative things about the firm. Emil Michael, an executive at the car-for-hire business said he wanted to spend “a million dollars” to try and ruin the lives of writers who said negative things about Uber in the media. He said he wanted to pry into journalists’ personal lives and seemed to indicate would like to expose them for the purpose of revenge.
It all went down at a fancy dinner party that had a bunch of A-Listers in attendance. Buzzfeed, the outlet that broke the story, reports that Michael stated he would like to hire a team of researchers and writers who could spy on journalists and make embarrassing details about their life public. One writer in particular was a focus during the discussion.
That writer, Sarah Lacy, had published some less-than-appealing articles about Uber. She had also stated that she got rid of her own Uber app from her phone because Uber had possible ties to an escort agency, Buzzfeed reports. Michael said he wanted to reveal something about her private life because she had cast a negative light on Uber and accused the company of sexism. Michael also said he would like to spy on her ride history with the company, perhaps to track her movements, as well. Lacy responded with a scathing article that can only be described as kick-a** and incredibly fierce, slamming Uber much harder than she ever previously had. She has updated the article to include details about how Michael somehow got hold of her private cell phone number and called her up demanding to speak “off the record.” She declined.
Lacy’s article details the challenges journalists, especially women, face from companies that seek to bully writers into silence. All journalists have most likely experienced threats of lawsuits and worse due to things they write. Lacy says that she has gotten used to those types of threats, but that nothing could have prepared her for Michael’s tactics. Lacy maintains that Uber is a sexist company and its executive have a “frat boy” mentality. She also says that the top executives there do not care about the victims who have been assaulted by Uber drivers, and that Uber has engaged in slut shaming to that end. Because of these opinions, she says, she has been the target of a sexist attack by Uber.
It is important to note that Michael has since apologized for what he said at the party, and that it was born out of “frustration” he feels about the press. An Uber spokesperson has formally stated that the company has no plans to engage in any of the activities Michael discussed at the dinner. Although Michael apologized and the company claims they will not hire the research team, how can anyone really be sure they are telling the truth? It would be easy for them to secretly implement Michael’s plan without anyone from the outside knowing about it. Is Uber planning on terrorizing private citizens in this way? Will they attempt to chill the journalistic process with further threats?
Note to Emil Michael: in the future, when you attend a dinner party with media heavy hitters, it might be best to refrain from saying you want to ruin journalists’ lives in order to get revenge on them for critiquing your company. You stated you feel frustrated that Uber gets negative coverage. Well, welcome to the First Amendment, Kiddo. You just made things so much worse for Uber when they were already bad to begin with.
