Social media app Vero seemed to gain massive popularity overnight, and the #DeleteVero campaign came just as quick.
But CEO Ayman Hariri told Cheddar the backlash is over “incorrect information.”
“The things that transpired [at my old company] happened after I left,” he said.
Hariri, son of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, has come under fire for alleged human rights violations at a now-shuttered Saudi Arabian construction company where he once served as deputy CEO.
Tens of thousands of workers at the family-run business reportedly filed complaints of unpaid wages, but Hariri, who left the firm in 2013, denied any involvement.
Vero was launched in 2015, but catapulted to the top of Apple’s app store in the past week. It reimagines Instagram by removing the square-image restrictions, making it a major draw for photographers. It’s also free of ads and allows users to post more than just images and videos.
“You can share anything from your camera roll. You can share any link to anything online. You can share any song, any movie or TV show, any book, and any place,” Hariri explained.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/vero-founder-and-ceo-addresses-controversy-over-past-company-and-deletevero).
About 780,000 pressure washers sold at retailers like Home Depot are being recalled across the U.S. and Canada, due to a projectile hazard that has resulted in fractures and other injuries among some consumers.
President Donald Trump has fired one of two Democratic members of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to break a 2-2 tie ahead of the board considering the largest railroad merger ever proposed.
Ford is recalling more than 355,000 of its pickup trucks across the U.S. because of an instrument panel display failure that’s resulted in critical information, like warning lights and vehicle speed, not showing up on the dashboard.
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
