Ben & Jerry’s escalated its censorship lawsuit against Unilever on Friday, alleging that its parent company suppressed a social policy statement the US ice cream maker sought to release because it referenced President Donald Trump, Reuters reported.
This claim emerged in an updated complaint filed in Manhattan federal court. The original lawsuit, filed in November, accused Unilever of stifling Ben & Jerry’s efforts to advocate for Palestinian Arabs and criticize US military aid to Israel. The ice cream maker also claimed in the lawsuit that Unilever threatened the autonomy of its independent board.
Ben & Jerry’s is seeking a court order to secure its board's ability to oversee its social mission and to compel Unilever to fulfill a commitment to make $25 million in payments to organizations selected by the ice cream company.
This dispute highlights ongoing friction between the Vermont-based ice cream brand and Unilever.
The conflict traces back to 2021, when Ben & Jerry's announced it would stop sales in Judea and Samaria and parts of eastern Jerusalem.
The announcement led to months of controversy and criticism, including multiple American states divesting from the firm, and Australia’s kosher authority delisting the ice cream maker.
In July of 2022, Unilever announced that it had reached a new arrangement for Ben & Jerry’s in Israel, selling its Ben & Jerry’s business interests in Israel to Avi Zinger, the owner of American Quality Products Ltd (AQP), the current Israel-based licensee.
Ben & Jerry’s then sued Unilever in a bid to block the sale of the Israeli business to Zinger. That lawsuit was settled in December of 2022.
The new lawsuit alleges Unilever violated the 2022 settlement terms, which remain private. According to the November filing, the agreement required Unilever to "respect and acknowledge the Ben & Jerry's independent board's primary responsibility over Ben & Jerry's social mission."
In its amended complaint, Ben & Jerry’s detailed how its management and board, with input from Unilever’s global head of litigation, collaborated after Trump’s election on a social media post intended for release on Inauguration Day. The post addressed contentious issues such as abortion, climate change, minimum wages, and universal healthcare. However, on January 18, two days before the inauguration, Unilever’s ice cream chief, Peter ter Kulve, “unilaterally barred Ben & Jerry’s from issuing the post because it specifically mentioned ‘Donald Trump,’” the complaint alleged.
The complaint further claimed that ter Kulve’s decision appeared to be based on personal intuition rather than any company policy and disregarded Ben & Jerry’s history of criticizing the Trump administration. Additionally, it noted that ter Kulve later hosted a town hall meeting where he highlighted how Unilever board member and activist investor Nelson Peltz, a Trump supporter, had introduced the president to Elon Musk.
According to the complaint, ter Kulve argued that despite Ben & Jerry’s decades of progressive activism, criticizing Trump had become “too taboo for the brand synonymous with ‘Peace, Love, and Ice Cream.’”