Keyboard courage doesn’t come without accountability. Broker Andre Kravchenko is learning that the hard way after a homophobic response left on a photo of Pete and Chasten Buttigieg with their children.
The incident began over the holiday when Kravchenko remarked: “Someone gave these [censored] kids??” The Advocate notes that it is not known what Kravchenko originally wrote as his account is no longer available and Chasten Buttigieg censored the word when he reposted the comment to his Instagram Stories.
Chasten then wrote to his 348,000 followers: “In the year 2022, you’d think these people would be wise enough to post their homophobia from an alt account, not one easily connected to their job.” Buttigieg then called out American Homes 4 Rent which was listed online as Kravchenko’s place of employment.
The company responded earlier this week, noting that while Kravchenko had not worked for them for more than five years, the comments do not represent our beliefs and policies.
Internet slueths, however, also found that Kravchenko was associated with Skyline Properties, prompting an initial—rather defensive—public post from that company’s vice president.
“Skyline could not possibly know what 1,200 of our independent contractors could be doing at any given moment,” Scott Hotes, a vice president with Skyline wrote. “There is no way on gods [sic] green earth that you, me air [sic] anyone else could know in advance what someone might think or post.”
He then said he would have a conversation with Kravchenko.
Instagram once again had a strong reaction to this post, and since then, Skyline Properties has issued a formal statement, announcing the company had fired Kravchenko.
“After spending time to properly review the comments made by this individual, we have found that this was not some fluke, mistake, or hacking situation, and have promptly FIRED him from Skyline Properties,” the company wrote on its official Instagram. “That being said, we would like to sincerely apologize to the Buttigieg family and the LGBTQ+ community for any harm that came from the bigotry of this individual. We do not tolerate ANY hate speech of any kind, nor do we have a place for ANY brokers who participate in such hateful behaviors.”
Hotes has also since walked back his initial defensiveness, apologizing for his first post which, for many, seemed to minimize Kravchenko’s homophobic remark. He also shared that he is the father of a “27 year old non-binary/queer child,” noting that “my journey to stopping homophobes began with them.”
You can read the full statements from the various parties at The Advocate by clicking here.