BP CEO Tony Hayward issued an apology today for his comment last week that his motivation to stop a disastrous oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico comes from his desire to get his life back.
Hayward said in a Facebook post that his comment was “hurtful and thoughtless,” and that he “was appalled” with what he’d said.
“My first priority is doing all we can to restore the lives of the people of the Gulf region and their families – to restore their lives, not mine,” he wrote.
I made a hurtful and thoughtless comment on Sunday when I said that “I wanted my life back.” When I read that recently, I was appalled. I apologize, especially to the families of the 11 men who lost their lives in this tragic accident. Those words don’t represent how I feel about this tragedy, and certainly don’t represent the hearts of the people of BP – many of whom live and work in the Gulf – who are doing everything they can to make things right. My first priority is doing all we can to restore the lives of the people of the Gulf region and their families – to restore their lives, not mine.
Last week Hayward said: “”Y’know, I’d like my life back. So there’s no one who wants this thing done more than I do, and we are doing everything we can to contain the oil offshore, defend the shoreline and return people’s lives to normal as fast as we can.”
