Byron Allen calls on Carl Icahn to join fight against McDonald’s in new ad

Media mogul Byron Allen is asking famed investor Carl Icahn to join his fight against the McDonald’s corporation for alleged racial discrimination. 

Byron Allen at Byron Allen’s Oscar Gala at the Beverly Wilshire, A Four Seasons Hotel on March 12, 2023, in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Michael Bezjian/Getty Images)

In an ad placed in the Chicago Tribune on Wednesday, Allen — founder, chairman and CEO of Allen Media Group, the parent company of theGrio — asked the famed investor to help “fight against [McDonald’s] blatant racism against Black America.” Icahn has been pressuring the Chicago-based fast-food chain to improve the treatment of pigs in its supply chain.

The ad lays out several lawsuits that were filed against the fast-food giant including lawsuits by Black franchisees, former executives, employees and the Black former head of global security.

These lawsuits allege multiple instances of racist treatment. Black franchisees say that the fast-food chain set them up to fail by only placing them in high-crime, poor communities. Former executives contend that they were subject to hostile and racist treatment. 

According to the ad, the former head of security said that McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski retaliated against him after he contradicted him during a public meeting.

“It is time for America, especially Black America, to hold McDonald’s CEO Kempczinski and their Board of Directors fully accountable for the racist atrocities they have committed against Black America,” Allen told theGrio. 

Last year, Icahn bought a small stake in McDonald’s in an effort to change how the company treats the pigs they use for their pork products. Specifically, the use of gestational crates, where pregnant pigs are placed, is a point of contention for Icahn. 

In 2012, McDonald’s said that it would phase out the use of these crates and, in the years since, the company claims that 60% of the U.S. supply chains no longer use them. Last year, the billionaire investor nominated two people to the company’s board of directors to spearhead this new effort, but they failed to garner enough votes.

Meanwhile, two of Allen’s companies — Entertainment Studios Network, Inc. and the Weather Channel — sued McDonald’s for $10 billion in 2021 for racial discrimination. The lawsuit says that McDonald’s spent approximately $1.6 billion in television advertising in the U.S. but only about $5 million with Black-owned media companies in 2019. 

“Carl, I invite you to join us and other investors and civil rights leaders to ensure we stop the undeniable racism on the part of McDonald’s,” Allen said in the ad. “While your efforts to protect animal rights are commendable, please join us on the right side of history to end the horrible systemic racism against Black people by McDonald’s.”

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