Jeff Bezos has criticized a university professor for her tweets in the lead-up to Queen Elizabeth II's death.
Around an hour before news of the late Queen’s death broke on September 8, Dr. Uju Anya, professor of linguistics and race at Carnegie Mellon University accused the monarch of genocide - which incurred wrath from the 58-year-old billionaire.
Anya shared a post on her social media page, which has since been removed by Twitter for violating community guidelines. It read: "I heard the chief monarch of a thieving raping genocidal empire is finally dying. May her pain be excruciating."
The founder of Amazon soon was quick to call her out and quoted her post by writing: "This is someone supposedly working to make the world better? I don’t think so. Wow."
Read the tweets below:
Soon after the third world's richest man's tweet, the professor - who was born in Nigeria, which achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1960 - responded by criticizing Bezos' "merciless greed" and declining to apologize for her previous tweet.
In a thread with her original tweet, she continued her rant, writing: "If anyone expects me to express anything but disdain for the monarch who supervised a government that sponsored the genocide that massacred and displaced half my family and the consequences of which those alive today are still trying to overcome, you can keep wishing upon a star."
After the associate professor's tweet sparked backlash on the social media platform, the school condemned her in a statement obtained by Fox Business, writing: "We do not condone the offensive and objectionable messages posted by Uju Anya today on her personal social media account."
"Free expression is core to the mission of higher education, however, the views she shared absolutely do not represent the values of the institution, nor the standards of discourse we seek to foster," Peter Kerwin, a spokesman for Carnegie Mellon, said.
Bezos did not immediately respond to Anya’s reply but instead posted a separate tweet to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II, writing: "I can think of no one who better personified duty. My deepest condolences to all the Brits mourning her passing today."
The back-and-forth came just before Buckingham Palace officially announced that the 96-year-old monarch had died peacefully after seven decades of ruling.
Following the loss of his mother, the new king, King Charles III, released the following statement: "The death of my beloved Mother, Her Majesty The Queen, is a moment of the greatest sadness for me and all members of my family.
"We mourn profoundly the passing of a cherished sovereign and a much-loved mother. I know her loss will be deeply felt throughout the country, the Realms, and the Commonwealth, and by countless people around the world.
"During this period of mourning and change, my family and I will be comforted and sustained by our knowledge of the respect and deep affection in which the Queen was so widely held," he added.
