NBC’s Telemundo investigating anti-Muslim tweets by “social media coordinator”

Ali Abunimah 7 December 2011

Update and resolution: Telemundo contractor terminated after racist tweets exposed

Telemundo released the following statement this afternoon, 7 December:

We have investigated the matter  and have found that the person associated with the twitter handle @hotchulo was a part-time contracted worker.  

We take these matters seriously and as a result, have terminated our relationship with this person. We also want to make it clear that he was not speaking on behalf of Telemundo Media or NBCUniversal at any time.

The speed and seriousness with which Telemundo responded to this matter is commendable.

Eugenio Cuervo profile photo

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Original article

Telemundo, the Spanish-language TV network owned by NBC, is investigating a series of racist tweets from the account of @HotChulo, a person claiming to be a “social media coordinator” employed by the network.

The tweets included many demeaning epithets against Palestinians, Arabs, Muslims, Ethiopians and especially targeted women, characterizing them frequently as “Muslim whores” among other vulgar and racist terms.

This afternoon, Karen Comas, Social Media Manager at Telemundo tweeted, “We are investigating this matter. This a very serious situation, and so are taking it with that level of severity.”

Michelle Alban, Corporate Publicist for Telemundo Network, also told The Electronic Intifada by telephone that the network took the matter “very very seriously” and began an investigation as soon as she and colleagues were made aware of the matter.

A number of Twitter users began tweeting about @HotChulo after seeing his racist diatribes:

But Alban said she could not confirm whether the owner of the @HotChulo account indeed worked for Telemundo.

Independent evidence indicates, however, that @HotChulo does appear to have some sort of affiliation with the network. This evidence includes numerous Foursquare check-ins from Telemundo’s headquarters in Hialeah, Florida and Twitter mentions by other users identifying themselves as employees of Telemundo:

Racist diatribes against “Muslim whores,” Palestinians, Arabs and Ethiopians

Over months, @HotChulo had tweeted countless offensive and vulgar statements, apparently while identifying himself in his bio as “social media coordinator” of Telemundo. Here are a few recent examples:

 

Covering his tracks

Soon after attention focused on him, @HotChulo began deleting his tweets and his Twitter bio, eventually taking his account private. But many of the most incriminating Tweets had already been captured by several Twitter users:

 

Awaiting results of Telemundo/NBC’s investigation

Alban told The Electronic Intifada that she hoped to have further information by Wednesday. If Telemundo confirms that @HotChulo worked for them, it seems inconceivable that situation could continue.

The network will also have to ask itself how someone could be tweeting such vile filth for months, possibly from its own offices, and go unnoticed.

Who is “@HotChulo?”

While The Electronic Intifada is still following leads about the real identity of @HotChulo, he appears to have used two other names on social media, including Facebook: Eugenio Cuervo and Eugenio Corbeau, the last names, respectively, are the Spanish and French words for “raven.” He also maintains the Twitter accounts @SonOfJudah and @HijoDeJuda and the YouTube channel HijoDeJuda.

Pro-Israel extremism and support for violence

All his social media accounts and interactions indicate that @HotChulo supports the most extremist pro-Israel positions and often applauded violence against Palestinians and others:

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Comments

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poco replied on

What an excellent job of unmasking and making public one of the vilest voices on twitter! Kudos!

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Chris replied on

I guess the most likely answer is his account was hijacked using a browser or wifi exploit. Both are easy to do and undetectable and can control any account even if SSL is used..
Or he is a complete fool.

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Chris replied on

Well I don't review my previous tweets. I suppose I am simply hoping that this level of stupidity wouldn't really exist!

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Yasir M. Tineh replied on

I applaud the people at Electronic Intifada for pointing attention towards the unprovoked and aggravated assault undertaken by the aforementioned racist and seeking out to his employers in hopes of making them aware of his behavior.

Thank You

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ColdChillinChulo replied on

The guy works as a social media expert at NBC Universal's Telemundo unit. He spews Judeo-supremacist hatred from the offices of an NBC division on a daily basis for months. You guys need to upstream this to Newser, Mediate, Drudge -- everywhere. The careers of Helen Thomas and others have been destroyed by a single Tweet and this self-described Latino Ken Doll was able to issue Marty Peretz/Pamela Geller level hatred during his working hours at NBC.

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Khaled Essale replied on

Good work, reminded me of the Gay Girl in Damascus uncovered earlier

Ali Abunimah

Co-founder of The Electronic Intifada and author of The Battle for Justice in Palestine, now out from Haymarket Books.

Also wrote One Country: A Bold-Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse. Opinions are mine alone.