In addition to slamming Donald Trump at 2017’s hyper-political SAG awards, many celebrities took to social media this weekend to criticize the president’s new immigration policies. So when Uber appeared to capitalize on the controversial travel ban, the stars quickly dropped the ride-hailing phone app.
Incensed, Hidden Figures star Taraji P. Henson took to Instagram to share with her 9.7 million followers: “#ByeUber I can not support a company that backs hate. Soooooooo #ByeBitch deleting my account and canceling yo ass for EVERYTHING YOU STAND FOR!!! #togetherwestand #wethepeople #LOVEWILLWIN.”
But what exactly did Uber do?
On Saturday evening, activists swarmed airports across the United States to protest Trump’s newly-executed travel restrictions. The New York Taxi Workers Alliance (NYTWA) joined in the fray by going on strike at JFK Airport. Uber later announced that it would not implement price-surging – its usual policy when demand increases.
While many riders assumed the company supported Trump’s policies and was attempting to make up for the strike by offering low fares, Uber later clarified that it sought not to capitalize on the protests. And, as Vox staff writer German Lopez noted, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick had come out against the immigration restrictions before the NYTWA strike took place.
In a Facebook post originally directed at employees and then posted publicly, Kalanick wrote that Uber would reimburse drivers from the seven countries listed in Trump’s ban over the next three months, pro bono.
“Allowing people from all around the world to come here and make America their home has largely been the U.S.’s policy since its founding,” Kalanick continued. “That means this ban will impact many innocent people—an issue that I will raise this coming Friday when I go to Washington for President Trump’s first business advisory group meeting.”
But celebrities didn’t take note of that. Henson wasn’t the only big name to point fingers and fan the flame of the social media firestorm.
From India, actress and model Padma Lakshmi posted a picture of an iPhone notification reading “Delete ‘Uber’?” Underneath the photo, her caption read, “The least I can do. #nototrump #embarassed #whatthehellisgoingon?”
Another Hidden Figures star, Janelle Monae, took similar action, posting: “Canceling #Uber like… #bye #nomuslimban #teamfreedomoverfear #teamstopdefendinghate #teamstoptheabuseofpower #teamstopsupportingthosewhosupporttheabusersofpower.”
Uber’s competitor, Lyft, took advantage of the fray by donating $1 million to the ACLU and picking up Uber’s alienated celebrity customers. Comedian Amy Schumer advocated switching from one app to the other. “Please join me in deleting your Uber app and signing up for @lyft who donates 1 million to @aclu_nationwide,” she wrote. Actress Susan Sarandon also contributed, tweeting, “Goodbye @Uber. Hello @lyft. #DeleteUber.”
Patently suspicious of Uber’s motives, actress Olivia Wilde encouraged: “If @uber CEO @travisk is serious about his opposition to the Muslim ban, I think a $3 mill donation to the @ACLU would send a loud message.”
In other words, Kalanick’s intention to financially support Uber drivers affected by the ban and further, to discuss amending the ban with Trump, were not enough for Wilde. She may not even have been aware of the CEO’s words.
It is also possible that Kalanick’s whole Facebook post was brushed aside because of the CEO’s role as a member of Trump’s business advisory group. At this point, any association with Trump is repulsive to the Hollywood world.
