Estee Lauder Executive Fired After Posting Racist Sesame Street Meme

By Brenda Alexander

A top executive with Estée Lauder is out of work and reportedly out of a $10 million annual salary after he posted a racist and offensive meme on social media. John Demsey, the executive group president of the iconic cosmetics group was forced out, with a statement noting that he "must leave the company" after he shared the material on his Instagram account. Dempsey shared a Sesame Street-themed meme about COVID-19 that used a racial slur. According to NBC News, the company reviewed the post and found that the post is "damaging to our efforts to drive inclusivity both inside and outside our walls" and does not "reflect the judgment we expect of our leaders."

The statement continued: "Inclusion, diversity and equity are core to our company's values and priorities globally. Furthermore, over the past two years, we have worked together as an organization to advance our approach to racial equity and have taken a hard look at where we can and should do better."

The statement was shared with several top employees in the company, including William P. Lauder, the executive chairman, as well as Fabrizio Freda, the president and CEO. The spokesperson also made sure to drive home that Demsey was not terminated. "John was not fired, he was told he had to leave the company and is retiring this week," they said.

The meme has since been deleted from Instagram. Demsey said that he didn't "read" the post before resharing.  "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. There are not enough words to express my remorse and sorrow," Demsey said in a post. "Not only did I hurt many people whom I respect, the terrible mistake that I made has undermined everything I have been working for since I began my career 31 years ago. The meme is the furthest thing from what I stand for and I should have never reposted it."

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