Major corporations retreat from DEI amid backlash
Major corporations retreat from DEI amid backlash
CV NEWS FEED // A growing number of major US companies are scaling back diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in response to mounting consumer backlash—a shift conservative activist Robby Starbuck is calling a major victory in his campaign against what he described as “woke” corporate policies.
Harley-Davidson announced Tuesday that CEO Jochen Zeitz will retire in 2025 after plummeting sales. Starbuck took credit for the move Wednesday on X, citing his reporting and the company’s recent financial struggles.
“I warned that not firing CEO Jochen Zeitz meant doom for the company and I was right,” Starbucks posted. “Loyal riders didn’t forgive the board for keeping a CEO who’s so deeply out of touch with them.”
Big News: Harley Davidson CEO Jochen Zeitz is officially OUT as CEO less than one year after I exposed @harleydavidson’s woke policies.
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) April 8, 2025
Now let me tell you how we got to this moment.
After weeks of my reporting, they ended their crazy DEI policies but kept their woke CEO.
I… pic.twitter.com/HMjCzKvbI8
Harley-Davidson recently reported a 60% year-over-year drop in motorcycle revenue.
“Now FINALLY I can tell you that he’s NO LONGER going to be the CEO of Harley Davidson!” Starbuck added.
Meanwhile, Constellation Brands—the maker of popular beers like Corona, Modelo, and Pacifico—announced a major overhaul of its DEI programs earlier this week.
CEO Bill Newlands acknowledged that political and legal shifts demand a recalibrated approach. “This requires us to be thoughtful in our approach and to operate with enhanced focus going forward,” he wrote in a recent blog post.
According to Starbuck, the company will stop participating in LGBTQ workplace surveys and step back from the “woke CEI social credit system known for pushing the trans agenda.” He added that Constellation will instruct its employees not to inject personal political criticism while representing the brand.
MASSIVE news: In the US, Constellation Brands owns Corona, Modelo and Pacifico beer. Last week I did a story exposing their woke DEI policies. In response they engaged with me and decided to make big changes.
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) April 8, 2025
I can now exclusively tell you what’s changing:
• @cbrands will no… pic.twitter.com/hE4pZpWjw5
The trend follows a January executive order encouraging private firms to end “illegal DEI discrimination and preferences.”
In the months since, other major corporations, including AT&T and McDonald’s, have dismantled their DEI frameworks.
“Companies can see that America wants sanity back,” Starbuck wrote on X. “The era of wokeness is dying right in front of our eyes. The landscape of corporate America is quickly shifting to sanity and neutrality. We are the trend, not the anomaly.”
