Aflac Inc. said Monday it has fired Gilbert Gottfried, the abrasive voice of the insurer’s quacking duck in the U.S., after the comedian posted a string of mocking jokes about the earthquake and tsunami in Japan on Twitter over the weekend.
The tasteless tweets are particularly problematic for Aflac because it does 75 percent of its business in Japan. One in 4 homes in Japan buys health insurance from Aflac. The insurer’s chief executive, Daniel Amos, flew to Japan on Sunday to show support for the company’s employees and agents.
Aflac said in a statement Monday that Gottfried’s jokes do not represent the feelings of the company, which previously announced it would donate $1.2 million to the International Red Cross to help with disaster assistance.
The tweets in question were removed from Gottfried’s Twitter feed Monday after Aflac announced it would stop working with the comedian.
Associated Press
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