Lets face it, we seem to have a fascination with public meltdowns when it comes to celebrities and business leaders alike. As an employer, you may think a public rant of huge proportions would surely never happen in the corporate world, but stress comes hand-in-hand with self-destructive behavior and those in business arguably carry stress around by the truck-load.
As a case in point, and to illustrate how easy it can be to keep going despite probably knowing you should stop, we dug up the top public meltdowns of some well-known business leaders and it doesnt get any better than prime minister David Camerons recent rant at reporters.
(1) David Cameron
After journalists questioned his U-turn over planned cuts to disability benefits, as well as the lack of planning in terms of the steel crisis, due to the nearing EU referendum, he sharply said: You all go around setting each others hair on fire and getting very excited about this but it’s all processology.
He continued, suggesting journalists spent too much time reading each others newspapers something he claimed should be avoided. But that wasnt the last we heard from the PM. When he was forced to defend his Brexit opinions, he said: We said there was going to be a clear government line on Europe, which there is, and ministers are able to depart from it and make their arguments in their own way.
I can’t see what the issue is. You have a government with a packed programme, delivering that programme but at the same time were having a very important debate about Europe.
It didn’t take very long for it to get picked up on, and it has since gained an avid fan base on Twitter.
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(2) Amy and Sammy Bouzaglo
Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay is no stranger to outbursts, but in this case, he wasnt the one that poured oil onto the fire. Featuring in an episode of his Kitchen Nightmares show, the owners of Amys Baking Company were dumped by Ramsay as they proved to be too hard to work with.
After a few snide remarks from users on Facebook, Bouzaglo defended her company with what one could only describe as incredible passion. She wrote on the firms Facebook page (all in caps lock): I am not stupid, all of you are. You just do not know good food. It is not uncommon to resell things. Walmart does not make their electronics or toys so lay off!?
It didnt stop there, in fact it quickly spun out of control. We do not need this, you stupid people. The cakes we offer are expensive because we have to repackage and ship. Do not blame us because you can not afford quality. The Yelpers, and now the Reddits, need to back off. you’re not right just because of some TV show. We are not freaking out. We do not care about a witch hunt . I am Gods child. Piss off all of you. F**k Reddits, F**k Yelp and F**k all of you. Bring it. We will fight back.
Cringingly they kept going and photoshopped a comment tread from Reddit, claiming police were calling users. And after suffering the horrid, awkward moment where you realise youve just gone and dug yourself a hole, the couple claimed their accounts had been hacked and they had thus not been responsible for any of the comments.
Continue on the next page to see the next two meltdowns that made the list…
(3) Michael O’Leary
Without hesitation, O’Learyconstantly talks about how cheap he and his company areAnd how much he openly resents the customers who made him rich in the first place. There are just too many to count! Take, for example, his publicly unveiled opinion on refunds: “You’re not getting a refund so f**k off. We don’t want to hear your sob stories. What part of ‘no refund’ don’t you understand “
His biggest rant arguably comes after a customer complained about being forced to pay an extra fee of over 200 after she fell foul of the airline’s rule that passengers must print off their own boarding passes in advance. O’Leary branded those who object to the penalty charge as “idiots” who should “b***er off”.
The outspoken chief executive said passengers who arrive for flights without a pass are “stupid” and it is right they are charged 60 a time to have one printed at the check-in desk because it is their f**k up .”
Suzy McLeod, the passenger in question, had to pay to print boarding passes for herself, her parents, and her two children so they could fly home to Britain from Spain. OLeary said: “The mother pays 200 for being an idiot and failing to comply with her agreement at the time of booking. We think McLeod should pay another 47.40 for being so stupid.”
Did they really just say that The awful gaffes high-profile CEOs have made
(4) Marcelo Claure
After T-Mobile’s US boss, John Legere, posted a tweet referencing Sprint’s disastrous “All-In” packagelaunchAnd subsequent U-turn after peopleobjectedto a proposed limit on video-streaming speeds, Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure took to Twitter and fired off a testy rant calling T-Mobile US “bulls**t” and accusing the firm of being “cheap” and “misleading” its customers.
@JohnLegere I am so tired of your Uncarrier bullshit when you are worse than the other two carriers together. Your cheap misleading lease
” MarceloClaure (@marceloclaure) July 2, 2015
@JohnLegere imitation is a joke. You trick people to believe that they have a 15 dollar iphone lease payment when it’s not true. You tell
” MarceloClaure (@marceloclaure) July 2, 2015
@JohnLegere them they can upgrade up to 3x but you don’t tell them the price goes up to 27 dollars when they do. You say one thing
” MarceloClaure (@marceloclaure) July 2, 2015
@JohnLegere but behave completely different. It’s all a fake show. So its really #Tmobilelikehell
” MarceloClaure (@marceloclaure) July 2, 2015
To be fair, Legere has a reputation for taunting and goading rival carriers on Twitter and with his public comments. However, in this case, Claure’s need to vent stole the show.
Of course, it’s due to the above moments that CEOs often find themselves in hot water. That being said, we unveil four times that CEOs chose to blame a sticky situation on others.
