Uber is backtracking, trying to clean up the mess

Nov 18, 2014 10:28 GMT  ·  By

Uber is getting a bit creepy these days, mostly thanks to some remarks made by the company’s Senior Vice President Emil Michael, who suggested hiring “opposition researchers” whose jobs would be to dig up dirt on the journalists who oppose the company.

BuzzFeed reports that Michael pushed the notion of spending a mere $1 million on looking into people’s personal lives and families. He added that no one would know it was Uber behind it all.

The remarks were made during a private dinner where he thought discussions were off-the-record and which he apologized for on Monday, saying that he regretted saying the things he did and that they didn’t reflect his or the company’s view.

The dinner where Michael so freely discussed digging up dirt on the media representatives that don’t like Uber or that don’t always write peachy things, was hosted by Ian Osborne, former advisor to David Cameron, the British Prime Minister. In attendance were also actor Ed Norton and publisher Arianna Huffington.

Also present was a BuzzFeed editor who wasn’t told that the meeting would be off-the-record and nothing from the conversation hinted towards this fact.

Over dinner, Emil Michael casually discussed the notion of spending a million dollars on hiring four top opposition researchers and four journalists who would help Uber fight back against the press, looking into their personal lives and families, to give the media a taste of its own medicine.

Where does the rage come from

The target of his ire was a PandoDaily editor, Sarah Lacy, who accused Uber of sexism and misogyny after a report indicated that Uber appeared to be working with a French escort service. Michael was none too pleased with the stance and said that women are far more likely to get assaulted by taxi drivers than Uber drivers and went as far as to say that Lacy should feel responsible for any woman who followed her lead in deleting the Uber app and ended up being sexually assaulted.

The company is now trying to clean up the mess. “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. They were wrong no matter the circumstance and I regret them,” Michael said.

Then, the company’s spokesperson came out and said that they don’t hire any kind of people for such research against journalists and has never even considered doing so.

Emil Michael (5 Images)

Emil Michael is in deep trouble for his statements
He suggested spending money on digging information on journalistsSo if journalists don't like Uber
+2more