Hours after Kanye West, known legally as Ye, announced plans to purchase the conservative social networking site Parler, the firm sent hundreds of VIP users an email revealing their contact information.
The contact information of hundreds of “VIPs” was left exposed to recipients of the message.
The mail purported to include contact information for prominent conservative advocates such as Candace Owens, Andrew Wilkow, and writer Andy Ngo, as well as more than a dozen House and Senate accounts.
Our VIPs are an invaluable part of the Parler family and experience,” the company said to its users. “We appreciate all your support and partnership in the fight for free speech, and we look forward to your involvement in this monumental new chapter.”
The acquisition was disclosed on Monday following a slew of anti-Semitic comments on numerous social media sites, which resulted in the popular rapper being removed from Instagram and Twitter.
“This deal will change the world and change the way the world thinks about free speech,” said CEO George Farmer of Parlement Technologies, the parent company of Parler, in Monday’s announcement. “Ye is making a groundbreaking move into the free speech media space and will never have to fear being removed from social media again.”
Following the incident, Parlement Technologies’ COO, Josh Levine, issued an email to VIPs apologizing for the first email.
“Earlier today, we shared with you news about Ye’s intent to purchase Parler,” Levine wrote. “In the excitement, we inadvertently included your email address in the CC field instead of the BCC field. To say we’re highly embarrassed is an understatement.”
Levine pointed out that the email was only addressed to a small group of VIPs.