The CEO of a US credit cooperative Family First no longer holds that position several days after she posted a photo allegedly edited by artificial intelligence, showing her family wearing Lake America hoodies.
On Wednesday, Family First issued a statement on its website stating that Jane Smith had "immediately" left the company, and the Chief Operating Officer, Jason Acosta, would assume the role of interim CEO. The statement was jointly signed by Family First Credit Union, the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Maurice Patterson, and Acosta.
Family First did not clarify whether this resignation was related to external reactions. Nevertheless, the credit cooperative stated on Thursday: 'We sincerely apologize for the concerns, disappointment, and pain that this situation has caused to our members and community.'
Family First is headquartered in Michigan, a state that borders Canada.
Smith posted this photo on Facebook on September 11th, with the caption: "Do you like our hoodies? Canada might not think so. Hahaha."
According to CBC News, this post was later deleted from Facebook.
Last month, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that Lake Ontario on the U.S.-Canada border would be renamed “Lake America”, which triggered a strong backlash from Canada, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and even the animated comedy series “South Park”; the latter even changed its own name to “South America” as a satire of the U.S. president's order.
On September 17, during an interview with ABC12 News from Michigan, Smith stated that the photo contained artificial intelligence markers, but her sister removed these markers when she reposted it later on.
Smith is said to state: "We don't intend to make any political statements. However, we were just joking about the name of one of the Great Lakes being changed."
Family First previously stated in a declaration to ABC12 News that the company 'clearly disapproves of and rejects the content of this social media post involving our CEO, Jane Smith'.
U.S. Representative Timothy Kennedy (Democratic, New York State) has also proposed legislation in an attempt to stop Trump's efforts to change the name of Lake Ontario and to prohibit any future name changes to any of the Great Lakes.
