In a press release, senior partner and CEO Hans Geelmuyden in Geelmuyden Kiese once again apologizes for two comments in the debate on diversity in the communications industry that has been going on in recent weeks.
In an interview with the industry newspaper Campaigns On June 15, Geelmuyden stated that “kebab Norwegian is not good enough in GK”. This created strong reactions, including from communications advisor Umar Ashraf. In a heated Facebook debate, Geelmuyden wrote that he emerged as an “authoritarian extremist” and asked him to learn Western values.
Geelmuyden regretted the comment against Ashraf in an interview with Campaigns 23rd June. There DN interviewed him the same day he denied that the comments appeared racist. Now he has turned.
– I acknowledge that both comments are racist. The statement about “kebabnorsk” is racist because of the context in which the statement was made. Both statements are otherwise regretted repeatedly, he writes in the press release.
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According to Geelmuyden’s statements, both LO and Ikea have concluded the cooperation with the communications agency. Several of the customers have also distanced themselves from the statements.
– At the same time, I beg to be believed that these comments do not represent what I stand for as a human being. In action, I have worked intensively for 31 years to make Geelmuyden Kiese a diverse and inclusive workplace. I hope that both current and former colleagues can confirm this. The events in recent weeks motivate me to further efforts for more diversity and integration, both in GK and in society, Geelmuyden continues in the press release.
Here is Geelmuyden’s regret:
“I strongly apologize for both comments and am very sorry for the pain and discomfort the comments have caused. Semantics and language are important because wrong words create prejudice. Prejudice in turn can lead to hatred and violence. I acknowledge that my comments were harmful, insensitive and unacceptable. I understand that as an opinion leader I have a great responsibility for promoting diversity through both words and action, and in the future I promise to refrain from racist statements. “(Terms)Copyright Dagens Næringsliv AS and / or our suppliers. We would like you to share our cases using a link, which links directly to our pages. Copying or any other use of all or part of the content may only be done by written permission or as permitted by law. For further terms look here.
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