Ben & Jerry’s has been in disputes with its parent company, Unilever, since 2021 over its progressive political commentary. But it seems that CEO David Stever’s most recent interests have drawn the final line between them. Despite citations of rules protecting the CEO in the two companies’ initial merger in 2000 — and specifically those that rule out the ability to remove Stever — Unilever has, effectively, done just that. In a lawsuit filed on March 18 in New York, lawyers representing Stever stated that Unilever’s motive for his removal was based on his “commitment to Ben & Jerry’s Social Mission and Essential Brand Integrity … rather than any genuine concerns regarding his performance history.”
While Unilever has yet to respond to the allegations, it’s not the first complaint Ben & Jerry’s has made against its parent company regarding censorship. In January of 2025, Ben & Jerry’s alleged that Unilever censored a statement that referenced topics like abortion, climate change, minimum wages, and universal health care because it mentioned President Donald Trump. The initial lawsuit also referenced Unilever’s attempts to silence the brand’s public support for Palestinian refugees — alleging that the parent company threatened to dismantle its board and sue members because they planned to issue a statement that called for peace and a permanent ceasefire.
The behavior has only continued in recent weeks, too, with Ben & Jerry’s alleging that Unilever blocked a statement they attempted to make in support of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian green card holder currently detained in Louisiana. This is all despite the brand’s long history of corporate activism.
Ben & Jerry’s history of corporate activism
While any one corporation’s political interests are more relevant to consumers today than ever, they weren’t necessarily top of the public’s mind when Ben & Jerry’s first began serving ice cream out of a renovated gas station in Vermont. So, when founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield wrote the company’s first mission statement, the idea of an ice cream brand setting an intention that prioritized pressing issues like racial equality and sustainability, seemed unusual. But, that’s only because businesses at the time were rarely vocal about such issues. Ben & Jerry’s became a trailblazer of corporate activism when it launched its Peace Pop — a chocolate covered ice cream bar wrapped in packaging with print protesting the Reagan administration’s nuclear defense program.
What was an odd concept at the time made Ben & Jerry’s into a thriving business. Consumers hold businesses to higher expectations than ever, and Ben & Jerry’s long history and unique approach to corporate activism has granted them a level of consumer trust other brands have struggled to achieve. It’s why, when the brand initially merged with Unilever in 2000, the CEOs fought to protect their interests, requiring that the company dedicate $1.1 million to activism alone and eventually building an entire department dedicated to it. However, the drama unfolding currently could threaten that, and in that, the brand’s long built trust with its customers.
