Calgary mayor apologizes for calling Uber and its CEO ‘dicks’

Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi has apologized for comments made about ride-sharing service Uber during a livestream discussion while on a recent trip to Boston.

“Who knew I’d have my very own episode of Taxicab Confessions? I should have stuck with Carpool Karaoke,” Nenshi wrote in a blog post on Saturday.

Nenshi was in Boston to give a speech at a conference at MIT and was catching a ride with rival ride-sharing service Lyft when he discussed his views with the driver on Uber.

“Uber, there’s no polite way of saying this, have a brilliant business model and are dicks,” Nenshi is heard saying. “They are honestly the worst people in the world. I have never dealt with people like this before.”

Nenshi goes on to call Uber CEO Travis Kalanick a “dick” as well.

Calgary’s mayor says he had no idea his comments bashing Uber were being livestreamed.

“I had a free-flowing casual conversation with the driver. I was not aware that this driver was live broadcasting our discussion on the Internet, and he certainly didn’t have my consent to do so,” explained Nenshi in his blog post.

“Be that as it may, that’s not the point. One should be the same person in private as in public and I take full responsibility for my interaction with others.”

“As a guy who very rarely swears, this is probably as rude as I get, but it still wasn’t very nice or civil of me. I apologize to Travis Kalanick, CEO of Uber, and his employees for my being, well, a jerk. ”

Uber Canada spokesman Jean-Christophe de Le Rue said in an email to the Canadian Press that it’s “disappointing” to see the mayor “stoop to name calling” and he defended the company’s background checks, noting they’re the same as ones done by other national and provincial organizations.

Related stories:

American ride sharing service ponders Lyft-off in Toronto

Uber will shut down in Toronto if council passes transportation regulations