Published 15:33 IST, July 8th 2020
Tech CEO Michael Lofthouse's racist rant video goes viral on social media; Watch
Tech CEO Michael Lofthouse has been filmed making slurs at an Asian family. Lofthouse gave a statement to a media portal wherein he extends an apology
Michael Lofthouse, the CEO of the San Francisco-based cloud transformation firm Solid8 has been filmed making slurs at an Asian family on July 6. As per reports, the Orosa family was dining at the Bernardus Lodge to celebrate Mari Orosa’s birthday. This video was first shared by the Twitter account @JohnRizkallah. Further, this tweet received 29.9K retweets and about 69.1K likes. You can check out the tweet here:
Michael Lofthouse racist video:
The video begins with a member of the Asian family asking the Tech CEO Michael Lofthouse to repeat what he said. Lofthouse appears to be sitting alone at his table who responded by saying, "Trump's gonna f**k you. You f*****g need to leave. You f*****g Asian piece of s**t". The situation was saved by an employee of the Bernardus Lodge. The employee said, "You do not talk to our guests like that. They are valued guests. Get out"!
Tech CEO Michael Lofthouse’s statement:
Michael Lofthouse gave a statement to a media portal wherein he apologized to the Orosa family. Michael said that his behaviour in the video was ‘appalling’ and that he lost control during the time due to which he made ‘hurtful and divisive comments’. He further said that he could feel the pain felt by the family. Lofthouse said that he had been taught to respect the people of all races and would hence take time to reflect on his actions. He further added that he would work towards understanding inequality that was faced by several people around him.
Statement given by the Bernardus Lodge:
The Bernardus Lodge has given a statement to a media portal regarding Michael Lofthouse Solid8 CEO’s comments. The statement said that it was an extremely unfortunate situation, however, the Bernardus Lodge was proud of their staff member Lucia. Further, they also added by saying that Lucia had handled the situation swiftly by escorting Lofthouse out of the property without any escalation. The Bernardus Lodge also extended their apologies to the Asian family who had come to enjoy a birthday celebration on a holiday weekend. They also said that they worked towards providing a safe environment for lodging and dining.
Social media calls the tech CEO racist:
Here’s an Instagram post that went viral on social media:
More about the Tech CEO Michael Lofthouse:
The Tech CEO Michael Lofthouse has reportedly worked with tech giants like Hewlett Packard and IBM. However, Michael Lofthouse net worth is currently under review. As of 2016, Lofthouse was arrested for vandalism and was kept on probation for three years and had to indulge in 80 hours of community service.
Confusion with the brand Solid8:
A Consulting company based in the U.K was confused with Michael Lofthouse’s Solid8. The name of the company is Solid8 Consulting. As per reports, the company started receiving threats after Michael Lofthouse’s incident took place. Solid8 Consulting gave a statement to a media portal wherein they clarified that their company was not associated with Michael Lofthouse.
Relation to Donald Trump:
Several believe that Lofthouse talked about Trump in the racist video due to his statement about Coronavirus. Trump has been criticized for calling the Covid-19 virus ‘Kung flu’. As of late, several videos depicting racism have gone viral on social media.
Promo Image Source: Michael Lofthouse's Twitter account
Updated 15:33 IST, July 8th 2020