Estée Lauder senior executive John Demsey, was axed from his position for posting a racially insensitive Sesame Street meme referencing a Chingy concert and COVID-19.
The meme is from an edited Sesame Street children’s book featuring Big Bird with a mask on talking about Mr. Snuffleupagus,
“My n-gga Snuffy done got the ‘rona at a Chingy concert.”
Demsey deleted the post before issuing an apology.
“I am terribly sorry and deeply ashamed that I hurt so many people when I made the horrible mistake of carelessly reposting a racist meme without reading it beforehand,” he wrote. “There are not enough words to express me remorse and sorrow.”
The beauty tycoon has been on blast and since gone viral, as a filing from Estée Lauder revealed that Demsey was forced to leave the company and will be retiring.
“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,” the company said in a memo.