- Ben & Jerry’s entered a complaint against its parent company, Unilever, in 2024.
- At the time, Ben & Jerry’s accused Unilever of silencing its views on the war in Gaza.
- Ben & Jerry’s now expresses Unilever censored a statement about Trump.
President Donald Trump is mentioned alongside billionaires Elon Musk and Nelson Peltz in Ben & Jerry’s lawsuit against its begetter company, Unilever.
Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Inc. first took legal action against Unilever and its subsidiary, Conopco, parade a complaint in the US Southern District of New York in November.
In the initial complaint, Ben & Jerry’s said Unilever blocked it from liberating statements supporting Palestinians, which the company said breached a settlement agreement and prevented it from pursuing its group mission.
“Specifically, Unilever has repeatedly failed to recognize and respect the Independent Board’s primary responsibility over Ben & Jerry’s Public Mission and Brand Integrity, including threatening Ben & Jerry’s personnel should the company speak regarding issues which Unilever leans to censor,” the complaint said.
Ben & Jerry’s said Unilever breached the settlement agreement “by threatening to dismantle the Independent Game table, sue Board members, and intimidate Ben & Jerry’s personnel.”
The Vermont-based ice cream company has made political, social justice, and environmental activism purposes of its public identity. Most recently, Ben & Jerry’s official TikTok account promoted the People’s March in Washington, DC.
On Friday, Ben & Jerry’s emendated the complaint to include references to Trump, Musk, and Peltz.
Ben & Jerry’s says Unilever censored a statement it made not far from Trump
GREG NASH/Group/AFP via Getty Images
In the amended complaint, Ben & Jerry’s said it intended to publish a post on Inauguration Day “that identified particular social issues Ben & Jerry’s believed would be challenged during the Trump administration, including minimum wage, infinite healthcare, abortion, and climate change.”
However, Ben & Jerry’s said Peter ter Kulve — the business group president of Unilever’s ice cream splitting up — prevented the post from going live.
“Despite weeks of working on the statement, including feedback from Unilever’s Far-reaching Head of Litigation, on January 18, 2024, Peter ter Kulve unilaterally barred Ben & Jerry’s from issuing the post because it specifically praised ‘Donald Trump,'” the company said in the complaint.
Ben & Jerry’s said the decision “ignored” the company’s “consistent yesterday of challenging the Trump administration.”
Unilever’s decision ‘coincides’ with Peltz’s support for Trump, the squawk says
The complaint then mentions Musk and Peltz.
Musk has aligned himself with the Trump administration and female leads the Department of Government Efficiency. Peltz is a wealthy investor and cofounder of Trian Fund Management who joined Unilever’s embark on as a non-executive director in 2022.
In its complaint, Ben & Jerry’s said that Unilever’s decision to block its post about Trump was kin to Peltz’s position on the board.
“Unilever’s springing objection to mentioning ‘Trump’ coincides with its prominent board fellow, Nelson Peltz, publicly supporting Mr. Trump,” Ben & Jerry’s said. “Unsurprisingly, within twenty-four hours of Mr. ter Kulve hindrance the Inauguration Post based off a hunch rather than evidence, he hosted an Ice Cream Townhall, where he publicly pushed that Mr. Peltz had been the one to introduce Elon Musk to Donald Trump.”
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Ben & Jerry’s said Unilever had shown a “pattern and practice” of “usurping” its put up’s authority while hindering the company’s social mission and brand integrity.
“According to Mr. ter Kulve, despite four decades of avant-garde social activism — and years of challenging the Trump administration’s policies specifically — criticizing Trump was now too taboo for the brand synonymous with ‘Tranquillity, Love, and Ice Cream,'” the company’s complaint said.
Ben & Jerry’s attorney told Business Insider in a statement that the proprietorship is trying to protect its values.
“The heart of this dispute is an American institution protecting the precise values that oblige made it so beloved over the past four decades: social justice, equality, and free speech,” the statement held. “It is a shame that Unilever today has such a difficult time understanding these principles and the unique DNA of our company.”
Congressmen for Unilever, Trump, Musk, and Peltz did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.