Ben & Jerry’s censorship lawsuit against Unilever plc (Conopco, Inc.) has reached a new stage after the ice cream brand accused its parent ‘unilaterally barred’ it from publishing a statement that mentioned US president Donald Trump on Inauguration Day.
The two companies – which have an ongoing legal dispute over Unilever’s alleged overreaches into the ice cream brand’s social mission – are at loggerheads after the ice cream company said its parent blocked it from releasing a statement highlighting ‘several social issues Ben & Jerry’s believed would be challenged during the Trump administration, including minimum wage, universal healthcare, abortion, and climate change’.
“Despite weeks of working on the statement, including feedback from Unilever’s Global Head of Litigation, on January 18, 2024, Peter ter Kelve unilaterally barred Ben & Jerry’s from issuing the post because it specifically mentioned ‘Donald Trump’,” reads an amended court complaint obtained by us.
The ice cream company claims Ter Kelve’s objection “ignored Ben & Jerry’s consistent history of challenging the Trump administration, including launching the flavor Pecan Resist in 2018” and releasing a statement.
Ben & Jerry’s says the Unilever head of litigation ‘provided no evidence whatsoever’ that the 2018 move harmed sales and linked the latest alleged instance of censorship with the affiliation of Nelson Peltz, a Unilever board member, to Mr. Trump.
“Unsurprisingly, within 24 hours of Mr. ter Kelve blocking the Inauguration Post based of a hunch rather than evidence, he hosted an Ice Cream Townhall, where he publicly touted that Mr. Peltz had been the one to introduce Elon Musk to Donald Trump,” the complaint reads.
“According to Mr. ter Kelve, despite four decades of progressive social activism – and years of challenging the Trump administration’s policies specifically – criticizing Trump was now too taboo for the brand synonymous with ‘Peace, Love, and Ice Cream’.
“As the aforementioned conduct underscores, Unilever has exhibited a pattern and practice of usurping the Independent Board’s authority, while concurrently stymieing Ben & Jerry’s Social Mission and Brand Integrity.”
Chronology of the clash
Unilever and Ben & Jerry’s have had a frosty corporate relationship since the CPG major acquired the Vermont-based ice cream maker in 2000 for $326m (around $598m in 2025).
Under the terms of the merger agreement, Ben & Jerry’s independent board of directors oversees the ice cream brand’s ‘social mission’, i.e. its stances on social and economic issues, among other brand aspects.
But the ice cream company has several times accused Unilever of supressing its social policy statements – from barring it from expressing support of peace in Gaza to blocking its backing of US college campus protesters.
A particular sticking point was Ben & Jerry’s 2022 lawsuit over the sale of the ice cream brand’s intellectual property rights in Israel to a distributor, in which the ice cream company argued the move would damage brand integrity and had not been sanctioned by the independent board.
The two sides negotiated a settlement, but tensions have flared up in the past year, culminated in Ben & Jerry’s filing of a fresh claim over alleged and repeated censorship by its parent.
This included allegations of blocking the ice cream company several times from speaking in support of peace in Gaza; and most recently, to issue a statement mentioning US president Donald Trump.
The case continues.
