Random Careers That Were Ruined by Social Media (25 items)

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  (#1) BBC Radio Broadcaster Danny Baker Fired After A Tweet About The 2019 Royal Birth

  BBC Radio Broadcaster Danny Baker was fired because of an inappropriate tweet about Prince Harry and Meghan's new child. The tweet features a black and white photograph of a man and a woman walking hand-in-hand with a chimpanzee dressed in a suit with the caption, "Royal baby leaves hospital."

  A BBC spokesperson told CNN, "This was a serious error of judgment and goes against the values we as a station aim to embody. Danny's a brilliant broadcaster but will no longer be presenting a weekly show with us." 

  Barker insists the tweet, which was promptly deleted, was in no way meant to employ a racist stereotype, but rather was a joke about the "Royals vs. circus animals in posh clothes." Regardless, his actions have caused many to question his judgment and he was subsequently let go from his position with the station.
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  (#2) CrossFit Fired A Trainer After He Called LGBTQ+ Pride 'A Sin'

  In June 2018, a CrossFit gym in Indianapolis, IN, canceled a Pride Month workout. Most social media users were enraged, but Russell Berger, an Alabama-based Christian pastor and CrossFit trainer, applauded the gym for its "convictions." The tweet from June 6, 2018 read:

  As someone who personally believes celebrating "pride" is a sin, I’d like to personally encourage #CrossFitInfiltrate for standing by their convictions and refusing to host an @indypride workout. The intolerance of the LGBTQ ideology toward any alternative views is mind-blowing.

  When Berger faced backlash on Twitter, he defended his response, saying: 

  The tactics of some in the LGBTQ movement toward dissent is an existential threat to freedom of expression. The lack of tolerance for disagreement, which has been replaced with bullying Twitter mobs promising "consequences," should be a concern regardless of your political stance.

  CrossFit was not having any of this. The company went on damage control and quickly tweeted their support of the LGBTQ community and made an official statement declaring Russell was fired. In an interview with Buzzfeed News, CrossFit founder and CEO Greg Glassman said: 

  He needs to take a big dose of ‘shut the f*ck up' and hide out for awhile. It’s sad. We do so much good work with such pure hearts - to have some zealot in his off-time do something this stupid, we’re all upset. The whole company is upset. This changes his standing with us. What that looks like, I don’t know. It’s so unfortunate.
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  (#3) CBS VP Fired For Writing That Las Vegas Victims Don't Deserve Sympathy

  On October 1, 2017, Stephen Paddock opened fire on a crowd attending a music festival in Las Vegas, dispatching 59 people and wounding over 500. The next day, Hayley Geftman-Gold, a vice president and senior legal counsel at CBS, took to Facebook. Calling some of the victims "Republican gun toters," she claimed they didn't deserve sympathy, and said she doubted the "Repugs" in power would "do the right thing."

  CBS immediately fired her and released a statement that read: 

  This individual, who was with us for approximately one year, violated the standards of our company and is no longer an employee of CBS... Her views as expressed on social media are deeply unacceptable to all of us at CBS. Our hearts go out to the victims in Las Vegas and their families.

  Geftman-Gold's comments have since been deleted, and she has publicly apologized.

  Source: Washington Post
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  (#4) Professor Fired For Saying Hurricane Harvey Was 'Karma'

  On August 27, 2017, Kenneth L. Storey, a visiting sociology professor at the University of Tampa, tweeted suggesting that Hurricane Harvey was "instant karma" for Texas voting Republican. He quickly removed the tweet and deleted his account, but the damage was done. The school received a flurry of criticism for the post, and Storey was promptly fired.

  Storey issued an apology on the 28th, saying he "never meant to wish ill will upon any group." The university, meanwhile, said it "stands in solidarity with the people impacted by Hurricane Harvey."

  Source: NBC News
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  (#5) CNN Correspondent Reza Aslan Was Fired After He Wrote Offensive Tweet To Trump

  Following the London Bridge terror attacks in June 2017, President Donald Trump sent a slew of tweets criticizing London's mayor (who happens to be Muslim). One of his tweets called for a bring back of Trump's "travel ban," which was ruled unconstitutional by several federal courts. 

  CNN host (and former religious scholar) Reza Aslan tweeted in response, calling Trump a "piece of sh*t." CNN subsequently decided to cease production of Aslan's show. He tweeted an apology, saying he was angered by Trump's tweet and responded with uncharacteristic anger. 

  Source: Huffington Post
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  (#6) Florida Security Guard Fired For Documenting His Farts On Social Media

  Known by the pseudonym Paul Flart, a security guard in a Florida hospital saw a video of his farts go viral in 2018. Flart - real name Doug, last name unknown - spent much of his job sitting in the lobby, which he noticed had good acoustics. This inspired him to create an Instagram account to document his farts for about six months. After someone uploaded a compilation of Paul Flart's farts to YouTube, the video went viral. 

  Unfortunately, Paul Flart's boss was less then amused and fired him for his actions. Flart live streamed his firing on Instagram. He wasn't fired for the fart videos exactly. The issue was he uploaded content on a client's property while wearing his official uniform. 

  Despite the setback, Flart is optimistic about his future. He plans to keep making videos using his pseudonym, hoping the gimmick could turn into a sustainable social media career. 

  Source: Mashable
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  (#7) Day Care Worker Fired For Snapchat Pic

  A 19-year-old day care employee in Mesa, AZ, was fired for sending a Snapchat picture to friends. The picture showed her holding up her middle finger to one of the children at Kids Play day care, with the caption: "Swear I love kids." The police department investigated other accusations that the woman had filmed the kids fighting and playing in the toilets, but those stories were never confirmed. Ultimately, she was fired for having her cell phone out when she should have been watching over the children.

  The owner of the Kids Play, Dorothy Thorton, said, "I had to let her go. She shouldn't have had her cellphone out. She's watching kids."

  Source: Fox 19
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  (#8) Principal Fired For Comment

  Miami officer David Eric Casebolt wasn't the only one who lost his job after pulling a gun at an unruly teenage pool party. North Miami Senior High School principal Alberto Iber was also sacked after unwisely adding his two cents to the nationally controversial debate.

  Iber wrote a public comment on the Miami Herald website, saying: “He [Casebolt] did nothing wrong. He was afraid for his life. I commend him for his actions.” The comment showed his Facebook picture, name, school and title.

  Miami-Dade School District (whose student body is 99% minority) Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said:

  Judgment is the currency of honesty. Insensitivity - intentional or perceived - is both unacceptable and inconsistent with our policies, but more importantly with our expectation of common sense behavior that elevates the dignity and humanity of all, beginning with children.

  Source: Miami Herald
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  (#9) Brookfield Zoo Employee Fired After Racially Biased Tweet

  In June 2015, an employee at the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago posted a selfie, with a clever caption that said, "Wassup y'all? At work serving these rude [...] white people." The zoo's spokeswoman, Sondra Katzen, informed the public that employee was "seasonal" and also happened to be "no longer employed" by the zoo.

  Source: Chicago Tribune
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  (#10) Justine Sacco Fired After AIDS Tweet

  On December 20, 2013, on the eve of her flight to visit family in South Africa, Justine Sacco, global head of communications for the digital media conglomerate IAC, tweeted: "Going to Africa. Hope I don't get AIDS. Just kidding. I'm White!" As expected, the Internet exploded.

  Sacco claims that she meant the tweet as a piece of satire, but regardless of the context of her tweet - she was fired. 

  Source: Gawker
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  (#11) Cameron Jankowski Fired Over Extra Yellow Nachos

  In July 2012, Cameron Jankowski posted a photo of himself peeing on an order of nachos and addressed it to "revenge p*rn" purveyor Hunter Moore. The hacker group Anonymous tweeted a link to a YouTube video that contained Jankowski's personal details. 

  Jankowski claimed that the nachos weren't served to any customers and it was just a joke, but the damage was done and he was fired.

  Source: The Daily Mail 
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  (#12) Gabriella Pasqualotto Was Fired For Criticizing Her Teams

  Gabriella Pasqualotto, a cheerleader for several cricket teams, posted a tell-all blog about how poorly the players treated them and was promptly fired by the team owners. 

  Source: Times of India
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  (#13) Rashard Mendenhall Lost Endorsement Deals After Tweeting About Bin Laden

  In 2011, Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall tweeted disappointment in the overwhelming praise of Osama bin Laden's death by the American public. In the following months, he lost his endorsement deals and was traded to Arizona where he played for only one year. 

  Source: Fox Sports
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  (#14) Damian Goddard Was Fired After Tweeting Against Gay Marriage

  Damian Goddard, a Toronto based sportscaster, was fired after he tweeted this - in which he deemed gay marriage "wrong." Later he tried and failed to file a petition with Amnesty International.

  Source: Awful Announcing
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  (#15) Stephanie Rice

  • Olympic Athlete

  In September 2010, Australian Olympic swimmer Stephanie Rice came under fire when she made a homophobic remark on Twitter in regards to a rugby match between the Australian Wallabies and the South African Springboks. It cost her a lucrative contract with car maker Jaguar.

  Source: The Daily Mail
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  (#16) Instagram Stars' Show Was Canceled Over Offensive Tweets

  Claudia Oshry, the social media star known as the Girl With No Job, landed a talk show called The Morning Breath with her sister Jackie in April 2017. But Verizon's Oath canceled the whole thing when the Daily Beast published a piece about their mother, far-right commentator and anti-Muslim activist Pamela Geller, on February 28, 2018.

  At first, Oshry and her sister tried to distance themselves from their mother, saying that their views were separate and "not anti-Muslim or anti-anyone." Their past tweets, however, included crude jokes about Muslim people. Both apologized.

  Source: The Daily Beast
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  (#17) Gilbert Gottfried

  • Comedian

  Until 2011, Gilbert Gottfried was the voice of the Aflac Duck. Then he started tweeting jokes about the Japanese tsunami. One tiny problem: Aflac does 75% of its business in Japan. The company announced a casting call for his replacement directly after cutting him loose. 

  Source: The Hollywood Reporter
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  (#18) Tim Chantarangsu Was Fired For Tweeting About His Work Uniform

  In 2009, Tim Chantarangsu, a server at California Pizza Kitchen, was really against wearing black polos. He tweeted: "@calpizzakitchen black button ups are the lamest sh*t ever!!!" Obvi, California Pizza Kitchen saw this and terminated his employment. But don't worry about Tim, he's alright.

  Source: Mashable 
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  (#19) Alicia Ann Lynch Was Fired After Wearing An Offensive Halloween Costume

  In November 2013, Alicia Ann Lynch was fired after Instagramming a photo of herself dressed as a Boston Marathon victim for Halloween. Shortly after posting the picture, the Internet had a meltdown.

  Some people tweeted death threats, while others posted naked photos of her. It wasn't a good week for Alicia. After the fervor calmed down, she revealed that the tweet cost her her job. 

  Source: BuzzFeed
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  (#20) Jon-Barrett Ingels Was Fired For Tweeting About A Dine-And-Dasher

  In 2009, Jane Adams, star of HBO's Hung, ordered a soup and lemonade at Barney Greengrass in Beverly Hills before running out on the $13.44 check. Her waiter, Jon-Barrett Ingels, tweeted about it and Adams's agent paid the bill the next day, sans tip.

  Once again Ingels took to Twitter to complain about the slight and was fired by Barney's Corporate.

  Source: Perez Hilton
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  (#21) Toronto Firefighters Were Fired For Tweeting About Women

  In November 2012, a tweet from the account of Matt Bowman read: “Reject a woman and she will never let it go. One of the many defects of their kind. Also weak arms.” Despite being a Dwight Schrute joke from The Office, without Rainn Wilson's delivery (and the context), it doesn't land as well.

  It certainly didn't make things any better when, in March 2013, he tweeted: “I'd never let a woman kick my [butt]. If she tried something I'd be like HEY! You get your b*tch [behind] back in the kitchen and make me some pie!” That original piece of content wouldn't even work coming from Dwight.

  According to a spokesman, the City of Toronto and Toronto Fire Services terminated the Bowman and other firefighters who had posted similarly offensive tweets.

  Source: National Post
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  (#22) Ashley Payne Was Fired For Posting Pictures Of Alcohol

  In 2010, a teacher in Winder, GA, was fired for posting photos of herself to Facebook in which she was holding a glass of beer and a glass of red wine. She was given the option to resign or be suspended after a parent complained because apparently teachers aren't supposed to boast their personal lives and proclivities.

  Source: The Daily Mail
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  (#23) Kimberly Swann Was Fired For Describing Her Job As 'Boring'

  Kimberley Swann, a 16-year-old from Essex, was fired from her job at Ivell Marketing & Logistics after describing her job as "boring" in a Facebook post. In a totally boring response to the outcry from social media, the firm's Steve Ivell said of the decision: "Her display of disrespect and dissatisfaction undermined the relationship and made it untenable."

  Source: BBC
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  (#24) Kim Lehmkuhl Was Fired For Tweeting During City Council Meetings

  In 2014, a city clerk in San Francisco was asked to resign for allegedly tweeting during council meetings when she was supposed to be taking down meeting minutes. In her resignation letter, she described the job as a “mind-numbingly inane experience I would not wish on anyone.”

  Source: SF Gate
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  (#25) Dawnmarie Souza Was Fired For Calling Her Boss A 'Scumbag'

  EMS employee Dawnmarie Souza was fired in 2009 for criticizing her boss on Facebook, referring to him as a "scumbag." After filing a lawsuit, her complaint was settled out of court. 

  Source: CNET

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