Uber CEO Travis Kalanick has issued an apology after a video surfaced of the ridesharing company’s CEO arguing with an Uber driver.
“By now I’m sure you’ve seen the video where I treated an Uber driver disrespectfully. To say that I am ashamed is an extreme understatement,” Kalanick said in a note posted on the company’s website Tuesday evening.
“It’s clear this video is a reflection of me—and the criticism we’ve received is a stark reminder that I must fundamentally change as a leader and grow up,” he added.
{mosads}
The video published by Bloomberg shows Kalanick and Fawzi Kamel, a driver for Uber’s high-end black car service, arguing over whether or not Uber Black had dropped the price of its rides.
Kamel had claimed that Uber lowering the price for black cars had cost him $97,000 and bankrupted him. Kalanick disputed that the prices had been dropped at all.
“Some people don’t like to take responsibility for their own s–t. They blame everything in their life on somebody else,” the Uber CEO told the driver.
The video quickly went viral online, prompting Kalanick to issue the apology to Uber employees.
Uber said that it had been in touch with Kamel and expect him to speak with Kalanick in the near future.
The video is the latest of a series of recent public mishaps for the company.
Earlier in February, Uber received heavy criticism after former employee Susan Fowler alleged that the company had ignored her reports of sexual harassment. Kalanick pledged to learn from the incident and reform the company.
Also this past week, Uber senior vice president Amit Singhal stepped down from the company after it came to light that he did not disclose to Uber sexual harassment charges made against him in his previous job at Google.