An executive at cosmetics company Estée Lauder was forced out after sharing a racist meme on Instagram.
John Demsey served as the Executive Group President of the company.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Dempsey posted a meme that featured Sesame Street characters with the n-word, replacing some letters with asterisks.
The post has been deleted since the company found out about it.
Estée Lauder said Demsey’s post does not reflect the values of the company.
Before getting fired, the company placed Demsey on unpaid leave.
Demsey has apologized for his remarks on Instagram.
He said, “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.”
Demsey went on to say, “the meme is the furthest thing from what I stand for and I should have never reposted it.”
According to a regulatory filing, Demsey was paid more than $9 million in 2021.
