Billionaire Jeff Bezos has come under heavy criticism on social media for condemning a Nigerian-born associate professor Uju Anya based in the US over her comments about Queen Elizabeth.
Hours before the queen’s death was announced on Thursday, Anya called her the head of a “thieving, raping, genocidal empire.” The academic further wished her “excruciating pain” in her last moments.
Bezos, the founder of Amazon, reacted: “This is someone supposedly working to make the world better? I don’t think so. Wow.”
After his reaction, social media users dug up pictures and old tweets to explain why Bezos singled Anya for criticism.
The world’s third richest man has a relationship with Carnegie Mellon University where Anya teaches. In 2020, Amazon said it would provide $2 million to support the university’s Computer Science Academy for the next three years so it can continue to provide a free, online computer science curriculum for middle and high school students.
In August, Anya tweeted that she met Chris Smalls, the American labour organiser known for his role in leading Amazon worker organisation in Staten Island, a borough in New York City. He is the president and founder of the Amazon Labour Union (ALU) since 2021.
“Y’all I met Chris Smalls! Extraordinary brilliant and powerful young man who unionized Amazon!!” Anya wrote.
Bezos’ critics have accused him of hypocrisy, alleging that he condemned his employees to unfair treatment and resisted the formation of labour union in the company.
