Leslie Nassar, best known as Australia’s most popular Twitter satirist for his parody of controversial Australian censorship Minister Stephen Conroy, has been fired by his employer Telstra.
The rise and fall of Fake Stephen Conroy (FSC) has gripped both the Australian online community, and even the mainstream press since Nassar was outed 10 days ago. Telstra claimed that it wouldn’t fire Nassar for the account, and initially claimed that they hadn’t ordered the FSC account closed down, when indeed they had.
Nassar posted to the FSC account that Telstra had fired him not for the Twitter account, but for a post to his Department of Internets blog where he pokes fun at a media report that suggested that he would be an ideal candidate for CEO of Telstra, and also jokes about Telstra’s internet service Bigpond selling music. Technicalities, but no doubt they were waiting for the opportunity.
“I’ve fired for contravening Telstra’s AWA (Australian Workplace Agreement) that mandates that you don’t criticize Telstra — ever — even in jest” said Nassar.
As I’ve noted elsewhere, being fired from Telstra can be good for your resume, and Nassar can and will go on to bigger and better things.
Update: Telstra claims that it hasn’t sacked FSC, but is taking disciplinary action against him. Nassar now claims that he hasn’t formally been sacked in one media outlet, but has been in another. Meat loaf through a straw….
