Company has 'parted ways' with PR exec after tweet on AIDS, Africa and race

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NBC News –  An Internet conglomerate said Saturday that it had “parted ways” with one of its public relations executives after a post from her Twitter account said: “Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white!”

The message came from the account of Justine Sacco, the communications director for New York online media conglomerate InterActiveCorp, who was on an international flight to Africa on Friday.

By the time she landed, it had sparked a furor online, including the Twitter hashtag #HasJustineLandedYet. It was the top non-promoted hashtag during her flight, and remained a top trending topic on Twitter on Saturday.

IAC said in a statement Saturday: “The offensive comment does not reflect the views and values of IAC. We take this issue very seriously, and we have parted ways with the employee in question.”

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