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A woman has been fired by her father after her racist social media posts she shared as a teenager resurfaced. Lianne Wadi worked at Holy Land, a chain of gourmet groceries, bakeries, and delis in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, before the Instagram post and tweets she shared were discovered.
Nationwide protests began in Minneapolis last week following the death of George Floyd, who was killed by police officer Derek Chauvin, in the city.
Wadi had used a racial slur on an Instagram post of herself posing with a monkey, sparking outrage on Twitter. Then, a deleted Twitter account belonging to Wadi also resurfaced.
On Twitter, Wadi had posted multiple tweets using racial slurs and tweets insulting Black and Jewish people as well as gay people. She also retweeted a fake Hitler Twitter account and said in a tweet: "I'm discovering my new love for Mormons... just kidding Hitler all the way" followed by hearts and swastikas.
Wadi apologized in an Instagram post and said: "I would like to thank the individuals who have brought a previous post from my past to my attention.
"I am deeply mortified and disgusted by my prior statements. I would like to start by saying it is unacceptable and I deeply and sincerely apologize."
Wadi's father, CEO of Holy Land, Majdi Wadi responded by firing his daughter from the company. In a Facebook post, Majdi Wadi said: "It has come to our attention that a team member of the Holy Land posted racial slurs onto social media prior to beginning employment with us. We were not aware of these posts.
"As a business that was formed by immigrants, we do not tolerate this type of behavior because it is completely against our beliefs and faith."
But following Holy Land's apology, Midtown Global Market, where Holy Land was a vendor, announced that they had terminated Holy Land's lease.
Lianne Wadi told WCCO on Thursday: "I want to apologize from the bottom of my heart. They were such, like, horrible and vile things, and that's not who I am. It's not what I believe in.
"Those statements were made a long time ago, and like I was in a different place in my life. They in no way, shape, or form reflect who I am as a person today." Over the past week, Wadi had shared social media posts supporting the Black Lives Matter movement on her Instagram.
Her father said he would be implementing additional training and educational courses to his employees, "to ensure all our team members possess knowledge of what is and is not insensitive, offensive, and appropriate for all races, cultures, and religions."
