An American CEO has been at the center of controversy after posting a 'tear selfie'.



On the 10th local time, the New York Post and foreign media reported that the CEO of an American online marketing company was criticized for posting a picture of himself crying while announcing his layoffs through SNS.



'HyperSocial' CEO Braden Wallake said on SNS on the 9th, "I thought a lot about whether to write this article or not. I had no choice but to fire some of our employees."


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He continued, "It was very difficult to make this decision. Our company has always been and will continue to put people first," he said. , not me. So, as you reading this, I want you to know that not all CEOs in the world are cold-hearted and fire people at will."



Finally, Wallake shared a tearful self-portrait of himself, closing the post by saying, "It's unprofessional to tell my employees I love them. But deep down, I want them to know that I love them."


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His posts, which were published on social media, quickly spread online, and although most of the negative reactions were received, 4,700 comments poured in within a day of posting, and he became a topic of discussion in an instant.



Local netizens commented, "If you truly care about your employees, you shouldn't have been fired even by cutting your salary", "It's better to help the fired employee find another job at the time to post a tearful selfie", "The most It doesn't touch my heart." and criticized him.



On the other hand, some netizens defended him with comments such as "I admire the representative's compassion for the employee" and "Is it a shame to be ridiculed in such a way that it is heartbreaking to fire an employee?"


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As the controversy grew as the media as well as netizens reported his post, Wallake described himself as a 'crying CEO' in a new post on the 10th and said, "It was not my intention to wrap myself up or be seen as a victim. I apologize if I felt like that."



Then, he publicly wrote a recommendation letter for the employee on social media, saying, "I've come this far. I will disclose it after a conversation with the employee who is leaving the company." It seemed to quell the controversy, but the criticism did not easily diminish.



Meanwhile, Walllake's profile revealed that his company was a social media marketing company founded in 2019 and had a total of 18 employees before the layoffs.



(Photo = Braden Walllake LinkedIn, HyperSocial official website)