A Washington, D.C.-based burger chain and its social media contractor are trying to quell the backlash they’re facing for a tweet over the weekend featuring a photoshopped image of murdered journalist James Foley and a person holding a hamburger.

“Please accept our sincere apology to all who have been affected by the tasteless and insensitive post, and expect Z-Burger to be much more vigilent [sic] in the future,” Peter Tabibian, the owner of Z-Burger, which has four locations in Washington, D.C., and Maryland, said in a statement Sunday.

The since-deleted tweet featured a photoshopped meme of Foley, a UMass Amherst graduate and New Hampshire native, moments before his execution by ISIS captors in 2014, along with an image of two hands holding a hamburger and the words, “You disgrace me.” The text of the tweet read, “When you say you want a burger and someone says okay lets hit McDonalds.”


According to The Washingtonian, the tweet was live for about an hour Saturday before Tabibian was made aware of it and had it deleted.

In his statement, Tabibian said the “understandable outrage over the photo used in the ad has been very difficult for us to endure.” However, he said that neither his burger chain nor his staff were at fault and that Z-Burger’s social media contractor, Valor Media, had taken responsibility for the “objectionable” post.

Michael Valor, the founder of Valor Media, posted a multi-part video apology Monday evening on Twitter, in which he said Z-Burger had “absolutely nothing to do with” the post. In the somewhat rambling video, Valor apologized to the company, the larger community, and the Foley family.

“I’m really sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean for this to happen. I didn’t even think this was possible. It wasn’t on my radar.”

According to Valor, the Foley tweet “just kinda slipped through the cracks.” Z-Burger tweeted Saturday that the company’s art director “wasn’t informed” about Foley’s murder and put up the post “with ignorance to the situation.”

Final : Valor Media Apology @washingtonian @willsommer ? hope this helps shed some light . pic.twitter.com/3xr3vJbOZY — Michael Valor (@ValorCorp) July 23, 2018

The 23-year-old CEO said the company had recently taken on an “influx” of work, though he said that was no excuse for this particular tweet. Valor said the company would be increasing oversight of their social media posts going forward.


“I’m not some malicious, mean, ISIS sympathizer, you know?” he said. “It’s so crazy to me. I eat at Starbucks. You know what I’m saying? I’m going to Starbucks after this. I’m not a bad person and I’ve never hurt anybody, and I don’t want this to go on to the Valor name.”

Tabibian told the local CBS affiliate that he plans to reach out to the Foley family and donate to the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation.