If the crew are independent contractors (likely) then Allen has no responsibility for their actions unless it was something he directed them to do personally. If they were employees, then he is only responsible to the level in which he directly supervises their actions. Which is probably not at all. Insurance has nothing to do with this. It simply is an issue of vicarious liability. It is highly unlikely that Allen would be micromanaging the operations of his yacht in such a fashion, nor was expected to. So he is not responsible for the crew’s accidental damages.
That being said, the least douchebaggy actions, given the damages, would be to do something to try to ameliorate the situation. Not make a knee jerk response that they are not responsible.
He could donate a large sum to a charity-funded conservation project or three, and that would indeed be great PR. A decent billionaire concerned with the damage regardless would find a way to do this anyway.
That would have been far better than the reaction he gave. Even if people would take it as an admission of fault, contrite actions are far better PR than simply walking away and saying, “not my fault, not my problem”. That makes him look irresponsible and selfish.
Are you done being an apologetic here?
