The CEO of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce is apologizing for a New Year’s Eve tweet in the wake of a chorus of criticism calling him “tone-deaf.”
Rocco Rossi issued the tweet late last night from a New Year’s Eve celebration.
“Celebrating New Year’s the 1-percenter way! Let them eat cake :-)” Rossi wrote alongside pictures of expensive champagne and caviar in a tweet that has since been deleted.
Rossi was quickly inundated by a chorus of angry responses calling the post, among other things, tacky, tone-deaf, and offensive.
As CEO of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, Rossi lobbied for and praised legislation by the current provincial government that halted the climb of the minimum wage and put a stop to other worker-friendly measures legislated by the previous government.
Rossi deleted the tweet late Tuesday and issued an apology saying that he had intended the post to be satirical.
“I sent a tweet out on New Year's Eve that was meant to be satirical but in retrospect was insensitive and caused offense,” Rossi wrote. “I sincerely apologize for the tweet as it was never intended to offend.”
Some critics on social media said the apology was too little too late.
“Satirical for who??? For all the hard working people who just wanted the extra dollar an hour they deserve to help put a roof over their head and food on their kid's plate? Or satirical for you and your rich buds? You baked your cake. Eat it up and resign,” wrote one Twitter user with the handle @JeremyJSchultz.
Others defended Rossi, calling the criticism “out of proportion” and recalling his work for charitable causes.
