Reverend Al Sharpton has given PepsiCo an ultimatum – either restore DEI initiatives within three weeks, or he will call for a boycott.
The MSNBC host said that civil rights leaders at his National Action Network convention discussed taking action against companies who rolled back their diversity, equity and inclusion policies in the wake of Donald Trump’s executive orders.
‘Martin Luther King the Third and others joined me as we put on notice those companies, like Pepsi-Cola, that we will withdraw patronage from those that do not live up to what they voluntarily committed in DEI,’ Sharpton said.
On Friday, Sharpton sent a letter to PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta, giving him three weeks to meet or else he would subject the company to a boycott.
According to a copy of the letter obtained by the Associated Press, he wrote about his ‘profound disappointment’ that the company would end inclusion commitments.
‘You have walked away from equity,’ Sharpton said, adding that removing DEI hiring and retention goals and dismantling community partnerships with minority organizations ‘are clear signals that political pressure has outweighed principle.’
Sharpton, founder and president of the National Action Network, announced in January that the civil rights organization would identify two companies in the next 90 days that will be boycotted for abandoning their DEI pledges.
A spokesperson for PepsiCo told the Associated Press they had not received the letter and could not comment.
Reverend Al Sharpton gave PepsiCo an ultimatum to restore their DEI policies, or else he would call for a boycott
On Friday, Sharpton sent a letter to PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta expressing his ‘profound disappointment’ that the company would end inclusion commitments
Sharpton’s war against PepsiCo received mixed responses online – with some people supporting his push to boycott, while others pointed out his own moral shortcomings.
‘I buy @pepsi everyday. I don’t follow AL Sharpton but if his demands are not met, I will boycott every Pepsi product I know. On God,’ one person said.
Another said, ‘What a Grifter! Surprised he doesn’t advise everyone not to pay taxes! Keep riding your bogus Foundation!’
‘Based on the grifter Al, I will now buy more Pepsi products than I have ever done before. You are a pathetic example of a human being and should be ashamed of yourself. We the people give you 21 days to pay your taxes,’ a third person said.
In a memo sent to employees in February, Laguarta announced the company will no longer set goals for minority representation in its managerial roles or supplier base.
Sharpton doubled down on his threat to Pepsi in an X post on Monday.
‘This weekend at the National Action Network Saturday Action Rally, I gave PepsiCo 21 days. Not to think about it, to reverse course on walking away from DEI,’ he said.
‘We helped to build their brand. We won’t fund our own exclusion. If they don’t respond, we begin the boycott. We will not be silent while our dollars are used against our dignity.’
Since Trump returned to the White House earlier this year, U.S. government agencies, companies and schools have scrambled to reevaluate policies and programs aimed at increasing diversity among its employees and reducing discrimination against members of minority groups, women and LGBTQ+ people.
Trump ended DEI programs within the federal government and has warned schools to do the same or risk losing federal money. Large retailers like Walmart and Target have also phased out DEI initiatives since Trump took office.
Sharpton led a ‘buy-in’ at Costco in January after the retailer voted to stick to its DEI policies, a move that some critics called the ‘kiss of death’ for Costco.
‘We’re going shopping at Costco because they’ve stood with us. People that stand with us, we will stand with them,’ he said outside of the store.
However, the move has been sharply criticized online due to Sharpton’s divisive reputation. Some critics called his involvement the ‘kiss of death’ for Costco.
‘Al Sharpton? Kiss of death for Costco,’ one said.
‘As a lifelong customer, when Rev Al Sharpton is using you as a Liberal Party tool I am done with you. Sharpton is the kiss of death,’ another added.
Others said they would now boycott the retailer – such as the infamous boycott of Bud Light after its partnership with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney – due to their disappointment in Costco aligning itself with Sharpton.
Sharpton was slammed for accepting a $500,000 payment from Kamala Harris’ team during the presidential election campaign just weeks before a gushing interview with her which aired on MSNBC.
Harris’ campaign allegedly gave two $250,000 payments to Sharpton’s National Action Network on September 5 and October 1.
And on October 20, Sharpton went on to praise Harris’ ‘extraordinary historic campaign’ in a gushing interview and branded Donald Trump ‘hostile and erratic.’
MSNBC has stayed silent over the payment, despite suspending Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough in 2010 for making $4,000 in campaign donations.