Ben & Jerry’s co-founder accuses new owners of “turning… — Transcript

Welcome back to The Takeout. Ice cream, smooth and soothing. Corporate board clashes, not so much. Three board members were removed from Ben & Jerry's this week. I spoke with Ben & Jerry's co-founder Ben Cohen on what's behind all the drama.

Corporate governance and ice cream. For most consumers, it doesn't matter all that much, but Ben, it matters to you and Ben & Jerry's. Why?

Well, Ben & Jerry's has been trying to stay true to its values. It's very active in terms of taking stands on social issues, and now that it has been purchased by the Magnum Ice Cream company, they've just made a very brazen attempt to illegally dismantle the independent board. They're undermining the values and the social mission of Ben & Jerry's and thereby essentially destroying the brand and just turning it into another piece of frozen mush.

And what have you done in response, Ben?

Well, the independent board has sued Unilever Magnum, and we have launched the Free Ben & J's campaign, freebenandjerrys.com, or follow us on the hashtag to let consumers know what's going on and ask for their support to try to convince Magnum to sell Ben & Jerry's to this group of socially conscious investors that are ready to buy it and support the social mission.

If someone is so motivated, what do you want them to do, Ben?

Just go to the website freebenandjerrys.com. Follow us on the hashtag Free Ben & Jerry's, and you end up sending a letter to the chairman of Magnum, who's the person who has the power to change this situation, and to, you know, kind of use social media to let Magnum know what you think of what they're trying to do to Ben & Jerry's. So when it comes to Instagram posts or TikTok videos, you're saying bring them on.

Yeah. Absolutely. The power of social media is big. You know, when you talk about the values of Ben & Jerry specifically, what do you mean?

You know, I think what's interesting, what's telling about the two companies is that the slogan of Ben & Jerry's is "Justice in all its flavors." The slogan of Magnum is "Life tastes better with ice cream." So in terms of justice, we're talking about racial justice. We're supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion. We're supporting Black History Month. We support Black Lives Matter. All these things that are based on fairness and equality and justice, which I was always taught are basic American values.

Was a flash point early on, Ben?

The West Bank, absolutely. That was the big change in the relationship between what was Unilever at the time and Ben & Jerry's. We made a joint decision to pull our ice cream out of the occupied territories because it went against the values of Ben & Jerry's, and Unilever ended up getting so much pushback from the government of Israel that they reversed the decision of the independent board. They did not have the legal power to do that. The independent board sued them. There was an out-of-court settlement, but since that time, well, now, you know, Unilever and Magnum have broken the terms of that out-of-court settlement. But since that time, relations between the board, which is legally responsible for the social mission of the company, and Magnum have been really bad, and they have censored the various stands that the company has tried to take.

In terms of, well, say, the issue of Gaza, the company wanted to take a stand calling on Trump to have a ceasefire, but they wouldn't allow it. They threatened to fire employees at the company that wanted to send that thing out.

Right. Carrying on that line of conversation, Ben, when it comes to the values of Ben & Jerry's, where does your position on what many Jews in America fear and feel is a rise of anti-Semitism here and globally? What do you have to say about that?

You know, it's interesting. I am a Jew, and I believe that Israel certainly has a right to exist, but I do not believe it has the right to slaughter people. And I believe actually that Israel's actions have probably been the worst thing in terms of fermenting anti-Semitism.

You know, it's interesting. I personally have not really experienced any significant anti-Semitism.

I mean, you know, we were brought up to believe that Jews were scapegoats and we got blamed for everything that was wrong, in much the same way that immigrants now are being used as scapegoats and being blamed for whatever isn't going right.

And, you know, so I don't know. My feeling about anti-Semitism is that it's horrible, and that, you know, as Martin Luther King said, we have to relate to people based on our characters, our internal characters, not based on the color of our skin or what religion we are or what ethnicity we are. I mean, geez, I mean, you know, there used to be this phrase that people used a lot: What would Jesus do? You know, he would be kind and considerate to people. Let's get back to that.

Ben Cohen, the Ben in Ben & Jerry's. Thank you very much for your time, sir. I appreciate it.

All right. Good talking with you, Mater.

Um, you know, it's it's interesting. I personally, you know, have not really experienced uh any significant anti-semitism.

I mean, you know, we were brought up uh to believe that uh Jews were scapegoats and uh we got blamed for everything that was wrong.

In much the same way that uh immigrants now are are being used as scapegoats and being blamed for whatever isn't going right.

uh and you know so so I don't know my my feeling about anti-semitism is that it's horrible and uh that you know as as Martin Luther King said we have to uh relate to people based on our characters

our our internal characters not based on the color of our skin or what religion we are or what ethnicity we are. I mean geez I mean you know there used to be this phrase that people used a lot what

would Jesus do? Uh you know he would be kind and considerate to people. Uh let's get back to that.

Ben Cohen the Ben in Ben and Jerry's. Thank you very much for your time sir. I appreciate it.

All right. Good talking with you, Mater.