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Oculus holds "diversity luncheon;" refuses to address Luckey questions. CEO needs mom

F

FinaruDensetsu

Member
William Turton, a writer who attended the recent Oculus event, recounted what he encountered and heard in this Gizmodo article. Here are some choice quotes:

Among the events at the conference was an unadvertised, invite-only, “diversity luncheon” that was closed to the press. Invites were sent to various employees on Oculus’ staff, as well as participants from Oculus’ “launch pad” program, which is essentially an incubator for virtual reality creators from diverse backgrounds.
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While asking another lunch attendee to speak with me, a woman I didn’t know pulled me aside, holding my business card. She said that if I continued to approach people leaving the event, I would be kicked out. When I asked if she worked at Oculus or for Oculus PR, she refused to tell me and went back into the lunch. I later found out that her name was Paula Cuneo, and that she’d worked at Oculus doing strategic marketing for the past three years.
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Inside the lunch, several attendees told me, Oculus employees spoke to developers who were planning to leave the platform because of Luckey, and tried to get them to stay. When one answered that they wished Oculus would, at worst, make a statement acknowledging the situation and, at best, have Palmer no longer be involved with Oculus, a representative told the developer that neither of those things was going to happen.
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I had a similar experience when I asked John Carmack, the company’s CTO, about Luckey. Carmack has faced criticism in the past, after a woman asked him about the “gender gap” in virtual reality and he replied, “We are having a hard time hiring all the people we want. It doesn’t matter what they look like.” I asked Carmack what he thought about the recent controversy surrounding Luckey. He chuckled and headed towards his upcoming keynote. When I continued to ask Carmack questions, like whether Luckey was still employed at Facebook, Carmack’s PR handler held his briefcase to my face and said “We’re not talking to you.” Something similar happened when I tried to ask Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe about Palmer. “I...I can’t,” Iribe told me. “I have to go find my mom, sorry.”
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http://gizmodo.com/is-facebook-disappearing-oculus-founder-palmer-luckey-1787705084

I'm happy to hear that at least some press is still writing about the shit Facebook/Oculus has done. In my opinion: Fuck Facebook/Oculus
 
F

FinaruDensetsu

Member
My really big problem with this is that they were desperately trying to get devs to stay, but then just flat out told them sorry none of the stuff you want rectified is going to happen, like us even acknowledging that what he did was wrong.
 
SinCityAssassin

SinCityAssassin

Member
That headline makes me think Facebook were gonna go full soviet and edit out Palmer in every PR photo, right down to erasing him sitting down somewhere but forgetting his legs.
 
D

D4Danger

Unconfirmed Member
When one answered that they wished Oculus would, at worst, make a statement acknowledging the situation and, at best, have Palmer no longer be involved with Oculus, a representative told the developer that neither of those things was going to happen.
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Sounds like they made a statement to me.
 
G

GhostTrick

Banned
"We wont issue a statement or move out the racist PR/Face of company guy but please stay".

Well, I wont give you my money Oculus and I hope devs won't support your crap.
 
O

Occam

Member
"Something similar happened when I tried to ask Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe about Palmer. “I...I can’t,” Iribe told me. “I have to go find my mom, sorry.”"

That's hilarious. I think I'll try this next time someone asks me a question I don't want to answer.

NB: By not answering they still answered.
 
H

Hindl

Member
So they're ignoring the issue while still trying to get people to stay? Good luck with that. Shame that Oculus is going to die just because upper management can't get a handle on this. Kick Palmer to the curb and apologize. That's it.
 
Z

Zaph

Member
FinaruDensetsu said:
My really big problem with this is that they were desperately trying to get devs to stay, but then just flat out told them sorry none of the stuff you want rectified is going to happen, like us even acknowledging that what he did was wrong.
Click to expand...

Aside from pushing the Luckey to the background, I just don't think Oculus can do anything there - not while this Zenimax lawsuit is hanging over them. If they hang Luckey out to dry, he becomes a potential loose cannon that could hurt them.
 
M

Murkas

Member
Nice to see devs walking out due to the whole thing.

The entire thing is a shit show, "please join our diversity luncheon and take no notice of our founder funding white supremacy groups."
 
M

MrGerbils

Member
They need to do more than casually slowly disappear him. They need to take a stance against him. He's been hugely damaging to the brand.


When one answered that they wished Oculus would, at worst, make a statement acknowledging the situation and, at best, have Palmer no longer be involved with Oculus, a representative told the developer that neither of those things was going to happen.
Click to expand...

Then fuck off, Oculus. The Vive is a better product anyway, and the PSVR is good enough and a lot cheaper.

You wont be missed.
 
J

joms5

Member
While asking another lunch attendee to speak with me, a woman I didn’t know pulled me aside, holding my business card. She said that if I continued to approach people leaving the event, I would be kicked out.
Click to expand...

This is disgusting. I understand not wanting to talk about those things during an event such as this but there are ways to do things and ways not to. This is a way not to do it.

Things like this make me care less and less about whether Oculus lasts in this industry.
 
A

Azure Dream

Member
This is probably the worst response they could've had to the situation, or close, anyway.

"Sure, part of your Oculus Store proceeds are going to a man that gives to hate groups that might literally target you or your friends because of race, religion, or gender, but now we're quietly hiding it, so it's ok now!"
 
K

Kaako

Felium Defensor
So far all events surrounding this clusterfuck have validated my initial gut reaction of Fuck Oculus and how they are handling all this.
 
S

Sinistral

Member
Appropriate?
bighead2.png
Click to expand...

HBO Silicon Valley
 
O

OmegaFax

Member
Brendan Iribe and John Carmack's comments, the secrecy of the event, and their PR don't sound professional. No offense but it sounds like the upper management are all part of a boy's club.

I don't think Carmack would comment either way because of whatever is going on with him and Bethesda.
 
E

eyeball_kid

Member
“I have to go find my mom, sorry.”
Click to expand...

This basically sums up the maturity level of Oculus in one nice quote. Their strategy seems to be to just hide their heads in the sand and hopes everyone stops picking on them for having an alt-right activist as their public face.
 
B

BRocknRolla

Member
"Disappearing" implies getting rid of him.

Based on the quotes you used, it doesn't sound like that at all. I just sounds like they're trying to ignore the whole thing and pretend like it didn't happen.

Yeah, reading through the article, it doesn't sound like they're "disappearing" him at all. Just ignoring the whole thing. The writer of the article needs to perhaps make sure he understands the definition of words and phrases before he uses them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forced_disappearance

Anyway... I wish they would disappear him.
 
L

L Thammy

Member
BRocknRolla said:
"Disappearing" implies getting rid of him.

Based on the quotes you used, it doesn't sound like that at all. I just sounds like they're trying to ignore the whole thing and pretend like it didn't happen.
Click to expand...

maybe they don't want to implicate themselves in his murder
 
D

Deleted member 17706

Unconfirmed Member
Of course they are trying to minimize his involvement and eventually cut ties with him. The guy is toxic to the Oculus brand and publicly holds some very gross views.
 
J

Jamesac68

Banned
It is illegal to fire Palmer Luckey because he did a legal non-work activity. I find his actions reprehensible too, but Facebook is doing the best they can stuck between the legal requirement to not discriminate against an asshole and people who are upset that they employ someone who turned out to be such a major asshole.
 
F

FinaruDensetsu

Member
BRocknRolla said:
"Disappearing" implies getting rid of him.

Based on the quotes you used, it doesn't sound like that at all. I just sounds like they're trying to ignore the whole thing and pretend like it didn't happen.
Click to expand...

Yeah I dunno, that's the title of the article though.

I'm kind of thinking the author had a word limit on the title which is why it sounds kind of weird and doesn't quite apply.
 
V

Veritigo_X

Member
So many Oculus employees are complicit in this bullshit. The statements from the higher ups after this all came out was troubling enough, but now they're being straight up hostile about it. It's troubling that a so called "progressive" company like this would want to cover for a white nationalist.

Don't support this shitty company.
 
X

xJavonta

Banned
Jamesac68 said:
It is illegal to fire Palmer Luckey because he did a legal non-work activity. I find his actions reprehensible too, but Facebook is doing the best they can stuck between the legal requirement to not discriminate against an asshole and people who are upset that they employ someone who turned out to be such a major asshole.
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The least they could do is acknowledge it instead of ignoring it. This is bad PR.
 
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