A former PR executive issued a formal apology over a tweet she sent earlier this week.
Justine Sacco was the senior director of corporate communications at IAC (which owns The Daily Beast, Match.com and other major websites) when she tweeted on Friday, "Going to Africa. Hope I don't get AIDS. Just kidding. I'm white!"
Sacco apologized on Sunday in a statement provided to ABC:
"Words cannot express how sorry I am, and how necessary it is for me to apologize to the people of South Africa, who I have offended due to a needless and careless tweet. There is an AIDS crisis taking place in this country, that we read about in America, but do not live with or face on a continuous basis. Unfortunately, it is terribly easy to be cavalier about an epidemic that one has never witnessed firsthand."
Sacco was fired from her job following a slew of backlash across the internet.
"The offensive comment does not reflect the views and values of IAC," the company said on Saturday, according to Reuters. "We take this issue very seriously, and we have parted ways with the employee in question."