Justine Sacco (Image source: Facebook)

Justine Sacco, the PR exec who posted an offensive tweet about AIDS and Africa and was fired by media company IAC for her actions, has issued a formal apology:

"Words cannot express how sorry I am, and how necessary it is for me to apologize to the people of South Africa, who I have offended due to a needless and careless tweet," she wrote in a statement provided to ABC News. "There is an AIDS crisis taking place in this country, that we read about in America, but do not live with or face on a continuous basis. Unfortunately, it is terribly easy to be cavalier about an epidemic that one has never witnessed firsthand."

On Friday, Sacco posted this tweet: "Going to Africa. Hope I don't get AIDS. Just kidding. I'm white!" The backlash over the Internet was severe.

(H/T: The Huffington Post)

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