Quoting from a Bloomberg article on June 11, 2026: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-06-11/ben-jerry-s-co-founder-says-brand-being-destroyed-by-magnum
“The co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s said the ice cream brand’s new owner is in the “process of destroying” the Cherry Garcia maker’s future by stopping it from criticizing US President Donald Trump.
Ben Cohen, who started the brand in 1978 with Jerry Greenfield, is locked in a months-long fight with the Magnum Ice Cream Company over Ben & Jerry’s right to speak out on social issues. Muzzling a brand known for its progressive stance on social justice issues is hypocritical and will damage the brand, perhaps irrevocably, according to Cohen.
“Trumpism is essentially the biggest attack on the values of Ben & Jerry’s since the company was founded and Magnum has said you cannot criticize Trump,” Cohen said in an interview with Bloomberg’s Zero podcast. “Put simply, the very values-led business structure that’s made Ben & Jerry’s into the brand it is today is precisely the thing that Magnum is in the process of destroying.”
Magnum (the new ice cream company spun off from Unilever when it divested all its ice cream businesses in 2025) says Ben & Jerry’s continues to be a “bold voice for social justice” under its ownership. The brand has recently “spoken out on ICE, on the conflict in Iran, on freedom of speech, on migrant and refugee justice, in defense of democratic processes, and in support of No Kings Day in the US,” a Magnum spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
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