One Ben & Jerry’s co-founder says he’s out after 47 years because merger is gagging his wokeness

One of the Ben & Jerry’s co-founders will be leaving the brand after nearly 50 years.

In a statement posted to social media platform X by fellow co-founder Ben Cohen, Jerry Greenfield announced that he is breaking from the brand because he feels stifled by parent company Unilever. He believes that their independence to speak up about social issues is “gone.”

Look:

After 47 years, Jerry has made the difficult decision to step down from the company we built together. I’m sharing his words as he resigns from Ben & Jerry’s. His legacy deserves to be true to our values, not silenced by @MagnumGlobal #FreeBenAndJerrys pic.twitter.com/EZXGRjs76a

— Ben Cohen (@YoBenCohen) September 17, 2025

The statement reads:

It’s with a broken heart that I’ve decided I can no longer, in good conscience, and after 47 years, remain an employee of Ben & Jerry’s. I am resigning from the company Ben and I started back in 1978. This is one of the hardest and most painful decisions I’ve ever made.

This isn’t because I’ve lost my love for the people at Ben & Jerry’s. Quite the opposite. The folks who show up every day in our factories, scoop shops, and offices are some of the most passionate, caring, and values-driven people you’ll ever meet. They are the soul of Ben & Jerry’s.

What has made their work so important to me, and what allowed the company to be more than just an ice cream company, was the independence to pursue our values, which was guaranteed wen Unilever bought the company. For more than twenty years under their ownership, Ben & Jerry’s stood up and spoke out in support of peace, justice, and human rights, not as abstract concepts, but in relation to real events happening in our world. That independence existed in no small part because of the unique merger agreement Ben and I negotiated with Unilever, one that enshrined our social mission and values in the company’s governance structure in perpetuity. It’s profoundly disappointing to come to the conclusion that that independence, the very basis of our sale to Unilever, is gone.

And it’s happening at a time when our country’s current administration is attacking civil rights, voting rights, the rights of immigrants, women, and the LGBTQ community. Standing up for the values of justice, equity, and our shared humanity has never been more important, and yet Ben & Jerry’s has been silenced, sidelined for fear of upsetting those in power. It’s easy to stand up and speak out when there’s nothing at risk. The real rest of values is when times are challenging and you have something to lose.

Love, equity, justice. They’re part of who Ben and I are, and they’ve always been the true foundation of Ben & Jerry’s. From the very beginning, Ben and I believed that our values and the pursuit of justice were more important than the company itself. If the company couldnt’ stand up for the things we believed, then it wasn’t worth being a company at all.

It was always about more than just ice cream; it was a way to spread love and invite others into the fight for equity, justice and a better world. Coming to the concusion that this is no longer possible at Ben & Jerry’s mean I can no longer remain part of Ben & Jerry’s. If I can’t carry those values forward inside the company today, then I will carry them forward outside, with all the love and conviction I can.

A spokesperson for Magnum issued a statement thanking Jerry for his time with the company.

“We disagree with his perspective and have sought to engage both co-founders in a constructive conversation on how to strengthen Ben & Jerry’s powerful values-based position in the world,” they said, adding that the parent company is “focused on carrying forward the legacy of peace, love, and ice cream of this iconic, much-loved brand.”

Writer/Columnist

Sierra Marlee is a millennial whose hunger for the truth in a world of fake news has led her to BizPac Review.

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