U2 frontman Bono offered a public apology this weekend, after a report revealed workers at his charity’s Johannesburg, South Africa offices had been allegedly harassed and abused for years.
According to the Daily Mail, management at the ONE charity covered up the allegations for years.
“We are all deeply sorrym” Bono told the Daily Mail. "I hate bullying, can’t stand it"
The rocker said he was left “reeling and furious” about the scale of the allegations and he promised to meet victims in person.
“My team and I heard concerns about low morale and poor management in this office but nothing along the lines of what emerged recently. I was assured that those concerns were being dealt with — clearly, they were not,” Bono admitted. “The head office failed to protect those employees and I need to take some responsibility for that.”
One of the most prominent complaints, according to the report, included a married female worker who claims she was pressured to have sex with an older Tanzanian politician, and after refusing was demoted to receptionist and had her salary cut.
The ONE charity’s CEO Gayle Smith, also admitted in a letter on Friday that there was an “institutional failure between 2011 and 2015.”
“The overall evidence from our investigation was sufficient for me to conclude that we needed to own an institutional failure and ensure that our organization has in place the systems, policies and practices needed so that this never happens again,” Smith added in the letter.