Uber is at war with the city of New York and its mayor, Bill de Blasio. A tough fight, you might think, but the ride-hailing company has one thing on its side: support from celebrities.
At the center of the debacle is de Blasio’s proposal that the city cap the number of new cars ride-hailing companies such as Uber and Lyft can add to their networks every year. Uber, naturally, is not pleased, as the proposal would put a major wrench in its aggressive expansion plans.
So far, Uber has taken a multi-pronged approach to protesting de Blasio’s plan: It has added a “de Blasio” option in its app for New York City riders with information about the potential consequences of limiting driver supply. It has also protested in front of city hall, put out television ads arguing against the proposal, and on Wednesday even released data on hourly rides taken in the city.
And now it’s getting support from celebrities:
Mayor @BilldeBlasio supports NYC bill that destroys job opps for over 10K NYers by placing strict limits on new for-hire vehicle licenses
— ashton kutcher (@aplusk) July 20, 2015
Note that Ashton Kutcher is an investor in Uber…
.@BilldeBlasio: 25K new residents use @Uber_NYC each week. How is a fixed # of cars supposed to serve this demand for rides? #UberMovesNYC
— Neil Patrick Harris (@ActuallyNPH) July 22, 2015
Also, note that Neil Patrick Harris is a customer of UberSky, a promotion Uber offered for last year’s Valentines Day that let customers order custom skywriting for only $500.
.@BilldeBlasio Why do you want to return to days when only those in Midtown & Lower Manhattan could get a ride? #UberMovesNYC
— Kate Upton (@KateUpton) July 22, 2015
(We will update this story if more celebrities jump on the Uber support wagon.)