Uber can't seem to get an inch of good press lately. Following months of negative coverage regarding the treatment of drivers and passengers, frustration over the company's price surging, and their-less-than-ethical strategy against their competition, Uber has again found themselves in the midst of some self-inflicted bad press yet again.
Emil Michael, a senior executive at Uber, was holding court at a prominent dinner gathering at New York's Waverly Inn when he suggested that spending “a million dollars” to hire opposition to investigate journalists would be something he'd totally get behind. According to Buzzfeed, Michael suggested that the researchers would look into “your personal lives, your families and give the media a taste of its own medicine."
Michael, who assumed that event was off the record even though no journalists were explicitly told the evening was off the record, released the following statement,
"The remarks attributed to me at a private dinner - borne out of frustration during an informal debate over what I feel is sensationalistic media coverage of the company I am proud to work for - do not reflect my actual views and have no relation to the company's views or approach."
Uber CEO Travis Kalanick took to Twitter for damage control after the story broke this morning.
You can read the rest of the rant here, if you're in the mode to listen to a rapacious capitalist back-peddle
